Our Lady and St Joseph's Church, Carlisle


Our Lady and St Joseph's Church, with full name Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St Joseph, is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Carlisle, Cumbria. It was built from 1891 to 1893. It is situated on the junction of Warwick Road and Warwick Square in the centre of the city. It is served by the Canons of Ss Ambrose and Charles Borromeo. The church is a Grade II listed building.

History

Foundation

In 1798, a Roman Catholic chapel was founded in Carlisle by the Fairburn Family on the West Walls. In 1800, a Catholic mission started, supported by the local community. The priest was Joseph Marshall.
In the 1820s, with the Catholic population of the city increasing, plans were drawn up to build a church. From 1824 to 1825, one was built on Chapel Street. By the 1870s, this too became too small for the growing congregation, so in 1879, a larger church was planned.

Construction

The foundation stone was laid on 18 May 1891 and the church was opened in 1893. The site of the church, Warwick Square, was owned by the Duke of Devonshire. At the time, the cost of building the church came to £12,000. It was designed by Dunn, Hansom and Dunn. Archibald Matthias Dunn, his son Archibald Manuel Dunn and Edward Joseph Hansom also designed Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church in Cambridge.
On 11 December 2015 a Shrine to Divine Mercy was to be established in the church, but was postponed.

Parish

On 15 February 2014, the church, together with Our Lady and St Wilfrid's Church, Warwick Bridge, and St Ninian's Chapel in Brampton merged to become Our Lady of Eden Parish. That day, Michael Campbell, Bishop of Lancaster, made Our Lady and St Joseph's a collegiate church, by inviting the Canons of St Ambrose and St Charles Borromeo to serve the parish.
The church has two Masses on Sunday: 10:00am and 4:30pm. Our Lady and St Wilfrid's Church has two Sunday Masses: Saturday at 6:00pm and 9:00am on Sunday morning.