The Presbytery

The presbytery, next to the church, dates from 1884 and was designed by Peter Paul Pugin. Funds were raised to build it by a great ‘Charity Bazaar’ in St. George’s Hall, Liverpool.

It is designed in a Gothic style and built in red brick with stone and blue brick dressings.

The house has an open porch with the monogram ‘OMI’ of the order of priests it was built for, in mosaic tiles on the floor. The rose window of the oratory is over the porch.

The windows are set in a full height canted bay with pentice roof.

The windows are set in a full height canted bay with pentice roof.

The main rooms are off a double height, top-lit, central hall. The encaustic tiled floor is by Milton. The staircase has an open balustrade of pine with distinctive angled ‘H’s. The design of the hall is very similar to that in the Grange in Ramsgate, the family home built by AWN Pugin and where his sons, Peter Paul and Cuthbert, spent their childhood.

In 1960 a two-storey extension was built, designed by JGR Sheridan of Messrs. Edmund Kirby and Sons, Architects, of Liverpool. It consisted of the ground floor accommodation for the domestic staff and a modern kitchen and on the first floor, two rooms and bathroom facilities for the priests.

The original marble fireplaces, panelled pine doors, joinery work and some of the original furniture remain. The ground floor rooms are used regularly by the parish community.