Hi Elizabeth. Many thanks for visiting our blog. Hopefully, once the redevelopment is completed, you’ll be able to visit the site and enjoy (or even contribute towards) the displays on the history of the church! Thanks, Matthew
I was also Christened, made my Communion, Confirmed, and went to
St Maries School.
My Mother Molly, bought our dresses from Abrahamsons (abbies) flowers,
from Stathers for me and my two Sisters for May walking procession
Happy Days.
I would like to see St Maries celebrating mass on a sunday also mass for the children in the week and to open it up to the public.
A true Simms Crosser
p foran.
Thank you for visiting our blog and for sharing your memories of St Marie’s.
We are hoping to re-open St Marie’s so that once again, you’ll be able to sit inside the Church, take a moments reflection and enjoy the altar, Stations of the Cross, stained glass windows etc which will have been restored to reflect how the Church looked in it’s heyday.
I’m afraid that there won’t be any religious activities (such as mass) taking place within St Marie’s, but I hope you’ll visit the Church to enjoy the displays about the history of the Church and the important role it played in the community and that this will enable you to take an enjoyable walk down memory lane.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call on (01928) 593 118.
Many thanks,
Matthew
Hi! all Newtowners, All my family history is in the documents of St Maries church from my Grandfather in 1875/ grandmother in 1876 and the last, my daughter Joannne, chrsitened
in 1968 or near about,, you know what fathers and dates are like ??
Hi, I remember your name, my dad was Joe McCann who taught all his working life at St Marie’s. My mum was a Flanagan, they were from Major Cross Street, her mum was a Nain. We might be related!
Sue
hi good luck in your quest for development . my mum came from malta to marry my dad in this church then re settled in malta and dad lost contact with his family . dad died in 1972 and mum came back to england in nov of that year and we settled here in england and though we spoke about our lost family ( dads reatives ) we never got in touch until 4 yearts ago !!1 mum and some of us visited widnes to meet up with my cousins and are still in touch . mum posed outside the church and we were so sad to see it had been decomissioned. Mum has always said that our parish church of St .Mary’s in grimsby reminds her of St. Marie’s and now looking at your photos I can seee the resemblance. If you can log on for a tour around our parish you will be so surprised. We have been told its Very Puginistic but cannot confirm that it is . our church is also a grade 11 listed building and for the last 15 years we have been struggling to raise funds for the repairs to it but have resisted pressure to close it as it is the mother church in grimsby and over 125 years old. sorry about the history, and I hope to visit your development in the very near future xx
my family and my mothers family, St Maries was their church, hate to see it vandalised, did they get the people who did it I hope so used to mass there every sunday, my gran was baptized here and most of my family was
E W Pugin, the son of Augustus Pugin designed St Marie’s. A beautiful Church that served Moss Bank, Lugsdale, Marrabone and Newtown and all the houses up to Lowerhouse Lane and much of the old Town Centre.
My dad Joe McCann taught at St Marie’s. We call went to school there, confession, first communion etc and I sang the benediction hymns with Val Casey and Irene Woodward on Sundays. Hope it’s soon back looking as lovely as it did all those years ago. I loved the May processions.
all my family from gt grandad on went to St Maries, I have two photos of my mum in the schoolyard behind the church, I was an altarboy there in the 1950,s, was christened there in 1943, had my first communion in 1950, still got the certificate and my sisters and somewhere my mums
Thanks for getting in touch, Richard. I hope you’re able to come and visit the Church once it re-opens and that you think we’ve done a good job paying tribute to the heritage of the church. Matthew
Been following the redevelopment of St Maries via this site for a while now, just been looking at the final pictures. I too attended St Maries from nursery school (used to be at the back of the church if I remember right) through infants then juniors (seperate girls and boys back then),mass every Sunday, 1st confession,1st communion… I hadn’t been inside the church for a long time before it closed and I’d forgotten how beautiful it is. I,m so pleased you’ve managed to keep and restore so many of the original features, the stations of the cross and statues ect. Congratulations to everyone involved, you’ve done a great job and a lovely old building is getting a new lease of life instead of falling into ruin. So good luck in your new base and I hope to be able to pop in soon and see it all for myself.
I was baptised and married in St Marie’s. Have wonderful memories of my time at the infants school before going to Notre Dame in St Helens. A couple of years ago, when on holiday from Australia, I was fortunate enough to attend a talk on Industrial Widnes and whilst there caught up with several “girls” who attended St Marie’s primary with me. I’ve kept in touch with them since. Even though I’m now living a great distance away and it was a long time ago it just seems like yesterday. St Marie’s will always dwell in a little corner of my heart. Ellice Viggers (was Tobin).
Hi Ellice. Thank you so much for getting in touch. I’m so pleased to hear that you’ve kept in touch with the people you saw at our event. That’s wonderful. We put events on to bring people back into St Marie’s in the hope that these kind of connections happen. Thanks again. Matthew
Hi Christine,sorry for the late response. All the baptismal records for St Marie’s church are to the best of my knowledge held at St John Fisher church, Moorfield Rd, Widnes.
While researching my family history, a cousin in America discovered that my great grandmother and her siblings attended the church and school…and I think she went on to teach there around 1901 when she was 18..her name was Mary Dempsey….it’s lovely to see the history x
Thanks for the comment Mandy, I’m glad you enjoyed the photographs. Did your great grandmother or any of her siblings marry at St Marie’s church. If so, do you know when? Do you know where they lived?
Thank you for the reply.
They lived in Wright St according to the 1881 census. None of them married at St Marie’s unfortunately. A number of her siblings died as children and the family moved to Thornton Lancashire…I’m not sure when, but definitely before 1907. We presume they moved because of job opportunities in the chemical industry.Her father was born in Ireland and originally came to Widnes in approximately 1874.
St Marie's Heritage Group 
Fond memories these photos brought back I was Christened and Made Communion and schooled in St Maries school so May walking processions ( tears )
Hi Elizabeth. Many thanks for visiting our blog. Hopefully, once the redevelopment is completed, you’ll be able to visit the site and enjoy (or even contribute towards) the displays on the history of the church! Thanks, Matthew
I was also Christened, made my Communion, Confirmed, and went to
St Maries School.
My Mother Molly, bought our dresses from Abrahamsons (abbies) flowers,
from Stathers for me and my two Sisters for May walking procession
Happy Days.
I would like to see St Maries celebrating mass on a sunday also mass for the children in the week and to open it up to the public.
A true Simms Crosser
p foran.
Hi Pat.
Thank you for visiting our blog and for sharing your memories of St Marie’s.
We are hoping to re-open St Marie’s so that once again, you’ll be able to sit inside the Church, take a moments reflection and enjoy the altar, Stations of the Cross, stained glass windows etc which will have been restored to reflect how the Church looked in it’s heyday.
I’m afraid that there won’t be any religious activities (such as mass) taking place within St Marie’s, but I hope you’ll visit the Church to enjoy the displays about the history of the Church and the important role it played in the community and that this will enable you to take an enjoyable walk down memory lane.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call on (01928) 593 118.
Many thanks,
Matthew
Hi! all Newtowners, All my family history is in the documents of St Maries church from my Grandfather in 1875/ grandmother in 1876 and the last, my daughter Joannne, chrsitened
in 1968 or near about,, you know what fathers and dates are like ??
Hi, I remember your name, my dad was Joe McCann who taught all his working life at St Marie’s. My mum was a Flanagan, they were from Major Cross Street, her mum was a Nain. We might be related!
Sue
hi good luck in your quest for development . my mum came from malta to marry my dad in this church then re settled in malta and dad lost contact with his family . dad died in 1972 and mum came back to england in nov of that year and we settled here in england and though we spoke about our lost family ( dads reatives ) we never got in touch until 4 yearts ago !!1 mum and some of us visited widnes to meet up with my cousins and are still in touch . mum posed outside the church and we were so sad to see it had been decomissioned. Mum has always said that our parish church of St .Mary’s in grimsby reminds her of St. Marie’s and now looking at your photos I can seee the resemblance. If you can log on for a tour around our parish you will be so surprised. We have been told its Very Puginistic but cannot confirm that it is . our church is also a grade 11 listed building and for the last 15 years we have been struggling to raise funds for the repairs to it but have resisted pressure to close it as it is the mother church in grimsby and over 125 years old. sorry about the history, and I hope to visit your development in the very near future xx
my family and my mothers family, St Maries was their church, hate to see it vandalised, did they get the people who did it I hope so used to mass there every sunday, my gran was baptized here and most of my family was
E W Pugin, the son of Augustus Pugin designed St Marie’s. A beautiful Church that served Moss Bank, Lugsdale, Marrabone and Newtown and all the houses up to Lowerhouse Lane and much of the old Town Centre.
My dad Joe McCann taught at St Marie’s. We call went to school there, confession, first communion etc and I sang the benediction hymns with Val Casey and Irene Woodward on Sundays. Hope it’s soon back looking as lovely as it did all those years ago. I loved the May processions.
St Maries Church was just beautiful. It was such a sad day when it closed. So many happy memories. Looking forward to seeing inside again.
all my family from gt grandad on went to St Maries, I have two photos of my mum in the schoolyard behind the church, I was an altarboy there in the 1950,s, was christened there in 1943, had my first communion in 1950, still got the certificate and my sisters and somewhere my mums
Thanks for getting in touch, Richard. I hope you’re able to come and visit the Church once it re-opens and that you think we’ve done a good job paying tribute to the heritage of the church. Matthew
Been following the redevelopment of St Maries via this site for a while now, just been looking at the final pictures. I too attended St Maries from nursery school (used to be at the back of the church if I remember right) through infants then juniors (seperate girls and boys back then),mass every Sunday, 1st confession,1st communion… I hadn’t been inside the church for a long time before it closed and I’d forgotten how beautiful it is. I,m so pleased you’ve managed to keep and restore so many of the original features, the stations of the cross and statues ect. Congratulations to everyone involved, you’ve done a great job and a lovely old building is getting a new lease of life instead of falling into ruin. So good luck in your new base and I hope to be able to pop in soon and see it all for myself.
Than you, Annie. I hope you get the chance to visit St Marie’s soon and I look forward to showing you around. Kind regards. Matthew Roberts
I was baptised and married in St Marie’s. Have wonderful memories of my time at the infants school before going to Notre Dame in St Helens. A couple of years ago, when on holiday from Australia, I was fortunate enough to attend a talk on Industrial Widnes and whilst there caught up with several “girls” who attended St Marie’s primary with me. I’ve kept in touch with them since. Even though I’m now living a great distance away and it was a long time ago it just seems like yesterday. St Marie’s will always dwell in a little corner of my heart. Ellice Viggers (was Tobin).
Hi Ellice. Thank you so much for getting in touch. I’m so pleased to hear that you’ve kept in touch with the people you saw at our event. That’s wonderful. We put events on to bring people back into St Marie’s in the hope that these kind of connections happen. Thanks again. Matthew
We discovered we are cousins!
Sent from my iPad
>
Wonderful! 🙂
I was christened there.in 1947
Hi. I was wondering if there are any baptism records available anywhere? Late 19th century – between 1888 and 1899? Thanks
Hi Christine,sorry for the late response. All the baptismal records for St Marie’s church are to the best of my knowledge held at St John Fisher church, Moorfield Rd, Widnes.
While researching my family history, a cousin in America discovered that my great grandmother and her siblings attended the church and school…and I think she went on to teach there around 1901 when she was 18..her name was Mary Dempsey….it’s lovely to see the history x
Thanks for the comment Mandy, I’m glad you enjoyed the photographs. Did your great grandmother or any of her siblings marry at St Marie’s church. If so, do you know when? Do you know where they lived?
Thank you for the reply.
They lived in Wright St according to the 1881 census. None of them married at St Marie’s unfortunately. A number of her siblings died as children and the family moved to Thornton Lancashire…I’m not sure when, but definitely before 1907. We presume they moved because of job opportunities in the chemical industry.Her father was born in Ireland and originally came to Widnes in approximately 1874.