Saint Werburgh’s Catholic Church, Chester

St Werburgh's Church is located in Grosvenor Park Road. It is an active Roman Catholic parish church in the diocese of Shrewsbury. A church dedicated to Saint Werburgh was opened in Queen Street in 1799. The present church was built between 1873 and 1875 to a design by Edmund Kirby. Before the church was formally opened, Cardinal Manning celebrated Mass on Christmas Day, 1875. It was officially opened on 13 July 1876 with a Pontifical High Mass, the first to be celebrated in Chester for 300 years. The church was intended to have a large steeple, but this was never built. In 1913–14 a narthex, also designed by Kirby, was added. In 2002 the church was re-ordered, and it was re-dedicated in May of that year by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor.

St Werburgh's is constructed in buff sandstone, and has grey slate roofs. The normal orientation is reversed, the altar being at the west end. Its plan consists of a nave and sanctuary with an apse in one cell, and north and south aisles with a clerestory. The architectural style is French Gothic with lancet windows.

Image Courtesy of Flickr and Steve Wilson.

Sight description based on Wikipedia.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Chester. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The GPSmyCity App

Create Your Own Self-Guided Walk to Visit This Sight

Sight Name: Saint Werburgh’s Catholic Church
Sight Location: Chester, England (See walking tours in Chester)
Sight Type: Religious

Walking Tours in Chester, England

Create Your Own Walk in Chester

Creating your own self-guided walk in Chester is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Chester's City Walls

Chester City Walls are the oldest, longest and most complete (missing only just about 100 meters) historic defensive structure in Britain. Walking the full circuit of this ancient fortification provides wondrous views, wherever you choose to go, down into the city, and offers a fantastic insight into Chester's rich history.

First built by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago, the Walls were... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.3 Km or 1.4 Miles

Chester's Black-and-white Architecture Tour

While the origins of Chester date back to Roman Times, much of the city center, and by far the greatest part of it, looks medieval. Indeed, if you visit the city, the first thing you notice is the magnificent black-and-white architecture. Despite their appearance, however, the majority of these buildings are Victorian by the time of construction.

The Black-and-White Revival was an architectural... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 1.0 Km or 0.6 Miles

Chester Introduction Walking Tour

Chester is a walled city in Cheshire. It was originally founded in 79 AD as a Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix. It was garrisoned until the 4th century when it was abandoned by the Romans. It is thought that the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons during medieval times. It was also briefly occupied by the Danes.

Chester was very important during the Industrial Revolution. This is largely due... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.4 Km or 1.5 Miles