The Growth of the Catholic
Community in Wolverhampton (part 6)
The building of Ss Mary and
John's church
As the number of Roman Catholics in Wolverhampton continued to expand
throughout the 1830s and 1840s, the need for church extension became
apparent. The 1851 Religious Census revealed that Ss Peter & Paul's with
its 600 rented and 36 free sittings had to accommodate 1,000 at Sunday
morning services and the same number at the evening services. [Report on
the 1851 Religious Census of Religious Worship 1853] Thus, feeling
somewhat over-worked, Father O'Sullivan wrote to Bishop Ullathorne
suggesting "that it would be advantageous for us to have a third priest
here". [Letter from Rev O’Sullivan to Bishop Ullathorne 5th
Dec 1851].
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A view of Snow Hill around
the 1930s with the Presbytery and Ss Mary and John on the right
beyond the Congregational church. |
Within six months of the census, the foundation stone had been laid for
the new Catholic chapel on Snowhill at a point next to the
Congregational chapel and the Unitarian chapel. On Monday 6 October
1851, "a numerous and respectable body of persons collected to witness
the ceremony, comprising most of the Roman Catholics in the town and
neighbourhood, and a goodly number of Protestants who were attracted by
the novelty of the proceedings". [WC 8th Oct 1851] The piece
of land, measuring 3,956 square yards, had been purchased from the Duke
of Cleveland's agent at a price of £2,550. 3[A.Nicholls "SS Mary and
John 1855 – 1955" Wolverhampton 1955 p.8] The main subscribers for the
purchase of this plot were Richard Wullon [£100], who later won the
contract to build the church, the Gibbons family [£65], and Mr
Whitgreave and Mr Brazier, who each gave £50. [Letter from Cannon
Huddlestone and Rev Smith to Bishop Ullathorne Dec 1855].
For various reasons, which are discussed later, the building of the new
chapel took much longer than the time estimated, and it was not until
the first day of May 1855 that it was ready to be opened by Cardinal
Wiseman and Bishop Ullathorne. The construction of Ss Mary & John's had
taken almost four years to complete at a total cost of around £10,000.
[WC 2nd
May 1855] Unfortunately, the Cardinal appeared to be so overcome by the
excitement of the occasion that his sermon "was pronounced so
indistinctly as to be very imperfectly heard by many persons sitting at
no great distance from the altar ... and must have been inaudible to the
majority of the congregation." Later, however, at the luncheon which
followed the service, Wiseman was in better voice as he told the 300
people present that "the church will not only increase in material
dimensions, but also increase in moral and religious influences until I
hope that it will be found insufficient for the great purposes far which
it had been built". [ibid].
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