Restoration: Church of the Sacred Heart, Talbot Road, Blackpool

RESTORED CHURCH REOPENING CEREMONY AT TALBOT ROAD - The restoration of the Church of the Sacred Heart, Talbot Road, is now completed, and the re-opening ceremony will take place next Sunday morning. ….. The work of restoration has taken about 18 months. Before restoration was commenced the stonework was in a very decayed state. and the Church had lost all its beautiful architectural lines. It has been a very difficult matter to restore some of the work to its original detail, but this has been admirably accomplished

The church is one of the designs of Pugin, the great French architect, who gained celebrity for the fine gothic edifices in different parts of the country for which he was the architect.*  It is doubtful if there is another church in the Fylde district which approaches this in Gothic architecture.  

The work of restoration has been carried out by Messrs. J. Fielding and Sons. Ashburton Road, Blackpool, under the personal supervision of Ald. R. B. architect and surveyor, who has spared no effort in getting out, as far as possible, the original details of the various tracery windows and other delicate and ornamental work. The new stone with which the building has been restored has been supplied by   Messrs. F. Chadwick, Ltd of Nelson and is very hard and durable. The cost of the alterations will reach almost £4,000 which includes the restoration of the stonework, alterations to the choir gallery. the cost of which a member the congregation has kindly promised to defray; also the alteration to the organ which has been magnificently carried out by Mr. Ainscough, organ builder of Preston.

Reference    Blackpool Gazette and Herald 10 September 1915 page 8'

* Sacred Heart R.C Church was built in 1857, designed by Edward Welby Pugin, and was enlarged in 1894 to a design by Pugin & Pugin. It is constructed in stone with slate roofs. Its tower to the west is in four stages, with angled buttresses and battlemented coping, topped with tall pinnacles. The crossing of 1894 is octagonal and has a pyramidal roof of copper above an octagonal wooden lantern. The present west window dates from 1961 and is assumed to have replaced that donated by R. B. Mather.