Duke St on the Market St corner, Denton
This Roman Catholic Church was founded in 1869 and the present church, on the corner of Duke St and Market St, is the second to be built on this site.
The original church was demolished in 1961 and work on the new church started in Nov 1961, the foundation stone being laid by Bishop George Andrew Beck, the Bishop of Salford (later Archbishop of Liverpool), in Aug 1962.
Construction was completed on the 31 May 1963 and it opened on the 25 Jun 1963. The design, with a hyperbolic paraboloid roof, was by Walter Stirrup & Son and
the stained glass was by Carl Johannes Edwards of Whitefriars.
The foundation stone of the original church was laid on the 29 May 1869 and when it opened in the same year it was a school chapel, the mother church being St Ann's on Burlington St, Ashton-u-Lyne. It was made a separate mission in 1888. The first rector in 1869 was the Revd Father William John Crombleholme (1825-1884) who was also the rector of St Ann's Church, Ashton-u-Lyne. The church was of plain brick construction and it could seat around 250 persons.
Besides founding St Mary's, Revd Father Crombleholme also established an industrial school at Ashton, a school at Hooley Hill and projected missions at Mossley and Stalybridge.
Right: The interior of the original church.
A surviving part of the original building stands next to the church on Market St and the presbytery adjoins on Duke St.
The Church of St Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows is listed Grade II, List Entry No. 1448761.
