'We will keep fighting to save our ancient church'

Almost 200 people attended a meeting in the hope of saving a historical church in central Lancashire.

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church at Brindle has been run by Benedictine monks since the 1700s.

The abbey handed the running of the parish to the Archdiocese of Liverpool because it couldn't provide a priest, and Archbishop John Sherrington told parishioners that the church would have to close for services at the end of January.

Sherrington told them his preferred option was to merge with neighbouring St Bede's in Clayton Green, but "no one was in favour of my proposal".

Bren Cook, who is on a transitional group set up to be the voice of the parish during a consultation process with the Archdiocese of Liverpool, said the Archbishop "was a little bit shocked" at the "100% disagreement" with the proposed merger "but we could have told them that a year ago".

The church was built in 1786, at a time Catholics were still forbidden to build places of worship.

It is one of the oldest catholic parishes in England.

At its height in the mid-1960s there were 169 monks in the community.

But it recalled its last priest in October 2025, when the order had shrunk to about a quarter of its 1960s size.

In response to suggests that there were priests waiting to join the church, Sherrington said it "can't just take any priest", adding the trustees had to carry out due diligence and checks.

Helen Chadwick, who moved to the parish in 1966 when her father took over as head teacher of the parish school, said its seemed wrong not to have a priest given the area's historic links to to the Jesuit martyr, St Edmund Arrowsmith.

"Its a bit staggering that we have not had a better dialogue with the diocese and its certainly not of want of trying," she said.

Parishioners said that despite the archdiocese's worshipper numbers declining, St Joseph's was "thriving".

Zach Worswick, 17, said: "I was concerned that closing St Joseph's doesn't really progress the Catholic faith in terms of bringing in new people and younger people. Closing the building will not regrow the population."

Physician Paul Bateson said he felt disappointed and let down.

"Evidence based medicine is how I practice and for a big decision in anything evidence is paramount," he said.

"I felt today there was no willingness to share any of the evidence they claimed."

As the meeting ended, Barbara Crilly told the BBC: "My husband and son are in the graveyard.

"We are still struggling and fighting and we will continue to fight until we win."

Sherrington said: "Enabling parishioners to communicate their own views is an essential part of the consultation process.

"All submissions will be carefully read and considered and will provide a further update as soon as I am in a position to do so."

The consultation ends on 22 January.

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