Parish founded in 1707 the next to go

Paul Burnell reports on the latest historic building to be lost to the Church AN HISTORIC church, which rose from the ashes of the Blitz, is set to be sold in a property deal.
Liverpool Archdiocese has confirmed that St Mary's Highfield Street, Liverpool — which has a listed population of 10 — will be sold to a property developer ending a Catholic presence spanning three centuries.
A spokesman for the archdiocese told The Catholic Herald that the property had been sold to Gerry O'Brien, a local businessman and former owner of a chain of chemists.
The decision to sell the building, which is due to close at the end of the year, had been taken on the basis of pastoral planning for the city centre. "There oviN be still be a city centre presence," the spokesman added.
The church, located in the city's busi ness district, has two Sunday congregations — one which celebrates Mass in the vernacular and the second drawn from members of The Latin Mass Society who celebrate the Tridentine Rite.
Parish priest Fr Michael Gaine said that the sale of the buildings will not mean the end of the ministry, which was based at the church.
"The archbishop is committed to keep a Catholic priestly presence in the city's commercial and business area," said Fr Gaine, who is also chairman of the Movement for the Ordination of Married Men (MOMM).
Parish deacon Rev Philip White said that it was hoped that the regular 40 to 50 worshippers, many of whom had been brought up in the parish but now live outside, might be kept together if new BOLD PLANS have been announced to redevelop an inner city church closed 15 years ago due to serious structural problems. Part of St Augustine's, Avenham, in Preston, will be demolished to create a community, sports and information technology centre which will retain the church's distinctive twin towers and portico.
The St Augustine's Redevelopment Trust hopes to fund the development with a combination of English accommodation was found elsewhere. "We are still looking to preach the Gospel in the marketplace," he said. 'People Heritage money and the Single Regeneration Budget programme of Preston Council.
"The Diocese and the parish have been working hard for the past 12 years to identify local needs and then prepare a suitable scheme to enable us to preserve as much of the old building as would be practical while Wending it with the new," said Simon Thorrington, secretary to the Lancaster Diocesan Trustees. have mixed feelings. It is painful. The church is very beautiful and a very prayerful place.
"Those who come into the building are really elevated into another sphere."
Archbishop Kelly is to celebrate two farewell Masses at the church; one on December 6 for the "regulars" and a second on December 10 for the Tridentine devotees.
Miss Joan Diamond of the local branch of the Latin Mass Society, has been using the Church for the last 10 years, said members were hoping to be able to move the Tridentine Mass to the Church of St Antony, Scotland Road, once St Mary's had closed. The mission of St Mary's was founded in 1707 by the Jesuits, who handed it over to the Benedictine Order 90 years later.
The first church was originally built in nearby Edmund Street in 1845 before moving to Highfield Street 40 years later. It was blitzed in 1941 but was rebuilt in 1953, to a bigger size than the monks wanted, at the insistence of the War Damage Commission.
In the early post-Second Vatican Council years it became a forerunner in pioneering the new Mass in the vernacular and was known as a centre for the liturgical avant garde.
Urban redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s stripped the parish of most residents but ironically in recent years new residential property has been built.