Parish History

A Catholic Church of St Werburgh was opened in Queen Street, Chester, in 1799, and classes were probably held before a school was built in 1854.

A new church was built in Grosvenor Park Road in the 1870s. St Werburgh's has been a much loved church of the Catholic community in Chester. Built by Edmund Kirby, it has soaring gothic arches and tall lancet windows, giving a wonderful sense of style and space. Cardinal Manning celebrated Mass here on Christmas Day 1875 before the church was completed. The solemn opening took place on 13th July 1876 with a Pontifical High Mass, the first in Chester for three hundred years.

Our church has seen many alterations over the years, the most recent being the re-ordering, celebrated by the re-dedication of the church by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor in May 2002, the first time a Cardinal had visited the city for more than 100 years.

Additional information

Catholicism in Chester · A Double Centenary · 1875-1975

A guided tour of the Church building and contents

A Description of the Re-ordering of St Werburgh's Church in 2002/3

Parish Magazine Souvenir Issue June 1936, giving an account of the Consecration and Diamond Jubilee of the Church

St Werburgh's Cetholic Reference Book 1948

Contributions from the Parish History Group

• The Sacred Heart Chapel
• The new High Altar (1926)
• St Werburgh's Shrine
• St Werburgh and her Shrine (article by Fr Dallow in Parish Magazine, February 1917)
• St Werburgh's Stations of the Cross
• Laying the foundation stone (article from The Cheshire Observer, October 18, 1873)
• Official Opening Ceremony of St Werburgh's Church, 1876
• The Installation of the Great Cross, 1933
• First marriage in a Catholic Chapel in Chester since the Reformation
• The two stone crosses in the porch, 1935

Benefactors

• A bequest for St Werburgh's from the last male owner of Woodchester Mansion
• John and Michael Harnett