Holy Family R.C. Church
History
The recent history of the Catholic Faith
in Freckleton and Warton starts in 1899 when the church was built.
The land was leased from the Clifton family of Lytham and Canon
Taylor of Lytham and Fr Gillow of Kirkham combined together to
build the church at a cost of £500 partly funded by the Liverpool
Archdiocese. The Church was officially opened on the 30th September
1900 and the sermon was preached by Bishop Whiteside of Liverpool.
In 1907 the presbytery was built out of money provided entirely
by Fr Gillow and the first Parish priest Fr Roche took up residence.
The church was modified in 1913 by the addition of a folding screen
towards the rear of the church to provide a school for pupils
up to 14 years old, this remained until 1953 after which time
pupils were educated outside the village. The present school was
built on land purchased whilst Fr FX Whiteside was parish priest
and opened in 1974.
The physical structure of the church and the school serve the
Parish well and we as a Catholic community, through the mission
review, need to re-affirm the commitment shown by our ancestors
who worked so hard to establish our inheritance. Our legacy should
be that the Catholic Faith in Freckleton and Warton should be
stronger than that which we inherited.
A detailed history of the parish will be brought forward as the
website develops.
B J WHITTLE
