A simple church dating from 1975 with a strong geometrical design and a well-crafted interior. It takes the form of a rectangular block with a single monopitch roof, lit by clerestory windows and a concealed lantern. A smaller block contains the presbytery.
Catholic Mass was first celebrated in Little Lever in the old Co-operative building, before a timber church was erected in 1932, concealed behind the White Horse Inn on Lever Street.
Heritage Details
Architect: Desmond Williams & Associates (unconfirmed attribution)
Original Date: 1975
Conservation Area: No
Listed Grade: Not Listed
This served as a Chapel of Ease to St Gregory’s Farnworth until the parish of St Teresa was created in 1963. Land was acquired to build a church and school on Redcar Road, with the school opening in 1973, and the church on 27 August 1975. The architect has not been identified, but the design bears some similarity to that for two Pendleton churches, St Sebastian (1972-3) and Mother of God and St James (1975), the latter at least designed by Desmond Williams & Associates.
Description
The church and presbytery were built in 1975, and consist of two rectangular blocks linked by a parish room and sacristy. Both blocks have monopitch roofs set at ninety degrees with one another. The church is entered through a low flat-roofed narthex with a timber and glass screen. The worship space is lit by clerestory windows on three sides, and a concealed lantern, which casts light down onto the crucifix and rear wall of the sanctuary. The sanctuary furniture was made by Stan West in 2005, during the residency of Mgr Mark Davies.
More About St Teresa’s Church
Many thanks to Tony Slade at St Teresa’s for this article.
The Parish Starts
St Teresa’s began officially as a parish in 1963 but for several years beforehand it served as a chapel-of-ease for St Gregory’s, Farnworth from where a priest would come to celebrate Mass each week.
An ordinary semi-detached house on Tong Road was used as a presbytery but the church was a converted chicken-run in Lever St at the back of what is now Heneghan’s club.
The parish priest was Father Ciaran O’Hora. Many who did not know him understandably fell into the trap of assuming he was Irish, possibly one of the many Irish priests working in England at that time. But what a mistake to make! Whenever he met someone for the first time, his opening words were often on the lines of: “I’m not Irish. I’m from Ancoats in Manchester and proud of it.” His accent confirmed this. His sister, Mairin, used to come over from where she lived in Altrincham and was a great help to him, providing support as an unofficial house-keeper.
The Quirky Church
To describe the church as “quirky” is an understatement. It was made entirely of wood and was not insulated. The acoustics were very poor but Father O’ Hora’s strong voice generally overcame this.
Even so, hearing at the back of church was sometimes difficult. A major problem was the heating. Infra-red heaters were along each side of the church, just above head height. If you didn’t get near them on a cold day, you would feel the cold. However, it you did get near them, especially if you were tall, you were within inches of the heaters and there was a danger of having your hair singed. Through a side-door, there was an area used as a sacristy and confessional. Ironically, acoustics here seemed quite good, so confessions had to be whispered or else others in church could hear you.
Another aspect of the lack of insulation related to baptisms. In winter the water in the sacristy was freezing cold and to use it for baptism verged on being cruel to the baby. Hence for winter baptisms, Father O’Hora used to bring warm water in a flask. Those were the days!!!
The New School
Father O’Hora’s main tasks related to the building of a new school and church. At the time, Little Lever had its own Council before it was absorbed into Bolton Borough Council in 1974.
The chair of Little Lever Council was Jim Lees and the clerk to the Council was Ray Hodson, a Catholic. Thanks greatly to the efforts of these two, coupled with the efforts of the Diocese and the hard work of Father O’ Hora, planning permission was granted for a new primary school and a church at the top end of Redcar Road which at that time was a cul-de-sac. It was a common policy, not only in the Diocese in particular, but in the Catholic Church in England as a whole, to build the school first and the church afterwards. This happened in Little Lever.
Father O’Horas Silver Jubilee
Before the school opened, the Christmas Fair and various social functions were held in the Community Hall on Mytham Road. One such function stands out – the Silver Jubilee of Father O’Hora’s ordination.
The late Frank Grimshaw and others raised money for a presentation during a celebration in the Hall. The presentation was made by Father Curran, a friend of Father O’Hora’s and parish priest of St Mary’s, Radcliffe. Father Curran had a reputation, well merited, for long and rambling sermons but on that night his presentation speech was mercifully short. But he also had a good singing voice and he decided to entertain us all with a rendering of the Eriskay Love Lilt.
After that, he decided to do an encore of “I’ll take you home again, Kathleen”. At the end of the first verse, there was enthusiastic applause, but he then continued and sang all six verses. At the end, one wondered if the applause was because he had finished rather than an appreciation of his singing!!
Tradgedy As The New School Opens
But sadness and tragedy loomed just before the school was about to open in September, 1972. A month beforehand, on August 6th, Father O’ Hora died suddenly of a heart attack.
He was only 52. A packed and over-flowing church witnessed his funeral. Father Michael Corry was appointed as parish priest, having been a curate at Christ, the King parish in Walkden.
The school was very popular and for several years, well over forty pupils a year were admitted. In 1980 for example, there were 47 pupils in Reception with one teacher. At that time, the population of Little Lever was expending fast. For several years, it had the highest number of births in proportion to is size of anywhere in the country. The many new houses at a low price attracted young couples starting on the property ladder. The fame of this expanding population even reached the national press when the News of the World published a photo of the Little Lever Ladies Hockey team and nine of the eleven ladies were pregnant.
The first head of St Teresa’s school was Mr Fallon, followed by Mr Beeney, Mrs Deacey, Mr Maloney, Mrs Grundy, Mrs McTeague, then for many years Mrs Bohan and now Mrs Willis. But this “history” is about the parish and so it is left for someone else to do a history of the school, maybe in 2022 when it will be 50 years old.
The Church Opens
The church opened in August 1975. The Blessing, Mass and opening ceremony was performed by Bishop Burke and was attended by a large number of Diocesan and Local dignitaries, as well as a very large number of parishioners.
The building did not have any significant snagging problems that are often associated with a new building. There were three Masses each weekend but this dropped to two about ten years later. The presbytery was very pleasant with rooms serving as a reception and office. The sacristy also had facilities for confession. That remained the situation for over thirty years. But one question loomed: how do we pay for all this? Planned Giving (the fore-runner of what is now Gift Aid) was introduced.
But a big treat was in store!!
Finances And The Donkey Derby
Father Corry was always aware and sensitive to the fact that the Parish was in debt to the Diocese for the cost of building the Church and presbytery..
Also, in those days, any repairs, alterations and improvements to the school incurred a 15% charge towards the cost. This 15% was sometimes paid for by the school governors, but larger bills by the Diocese which then added it to the parish debt. Father Corry was very careful with any expenditure. The Christmas Fairs continued – now held in the school. But Father Corry was always on the look-out for what was done elsewhere. This applied to a wide range of things: liturgy, education, administration. He conscientiously read and tried to implement any new suggestions, whether from his priest-friends, the bishop, the Local Authority or what he read in the press or saw on television. He then made a point of asking as many parishioners as possible to see what they thought. That is how the idea of a Donkey Derby was born.
The first Donkey Derby opened with a great fanfare. There was a half-page advert in the Bolton Evening News and the official Opening was done by Paddy Crerand, the Manchester United footballer. An estimated 2000 people turned up and profits were very high.
The donkeys were hired and many imaginative ways were found to use them as a means of raising money. You could buy ownership of one for a race (so your child could then ride it); businesses were approached to sponsor a race; an unofficial betting system was in operation., plus all the other Summer Fair features. The programme paid for itself through adverts which Paul Beedon, in particular, painstakingly obtained by visiting every shop and business in Little Lever.
The popularity of the Donkey Derby remained high, becoming a major event on the social calendar, not only for the parish but the whole village. However, after several very successful years, in common with similar donkey derbies elsewhere. it was decided to stop. There had been a very vocal campaign to stop the use of donkeys because, in the eyes of some animal rights activists, the use of the donkeys was deemed to be cruel. The activists had resorted to disrupting some events, sometimes using force and accompanied by publicity in the Press and on television. Even though the donkeys had been well treated when they came to St Teresa’s, adverse publicity was the last thing that Father Corry wanted. This did not distract him for ensuring that the parish paid its levy to cover the cost of the Papal Visit by St John Paul II in 1982 – thanks to a well-supported Sponsored Walk.
Father Corry, Priest And Pastor
As already mentioned, Father Corry was very well read and made a point of making himself well-informed on a wide range of current issues. Under a superficial shyness, he made a point of asking questions.
He was very popular because parishioners respected his sincerity and holiness. He often “popped over across” to the school and the children would flock round him. He liked his evening walks, often through the village centre. He was a familiar face, wearing a dark coat, sandals and a black beret. Groups of youths would greet him: “Hi, Reverend” and what began as some mickey-taking by them gradually built into genuine respect. He was always at his most anxious prior to major Liturgical celebrations, going to great lengths to make sure everything was just right. Flower decorations gave him special pleasure. He organised two Missions: for the first, he persuaded various parishioners to visit every house in Little Lever in order to make a personal invitation, not simply a leaflet through the door. For a whole week, there were high attendances for the sermons and services, including many non-Catholics. The second Mission – aimed specifically at the parish – seemed to lose some momentum when Fr Corry suddenly had to dash home when his mother took seriously ill.
On Palm Sunday, 2002, Fr Corry took ill at the end of the Vigil Mass. He was rushed to hospital. He died the following Easter Sunday, aged 71, having been parish priest for just under 30 years. There was widespread sorrow and deep mourning. His funeral was attended by members of his family who had come over from Ireland and by ministers from other churches in Little Lever. As the Diocesan Dean said, “He was a kind, gentle and holy man and wanted nothing more than to end his days serving St Teresa’s parish.” In a moving tribute at the funeral, his friend, Father Austin Bulfin said: “He was a strong man,, shy, reserved and shrewd, dignified – and only told you what he wanted to tell you” He was buried in Doonbeg, West Clare.
For several months after his death, no appointment was made for a replacement. Several different priests supplied for Sunday Mass. They all said that it was nice to visit St Teresa’s as everyone was very welcoming and matters were well organised. No Masses were missed, collections were taken and things seemed to be simply ticking along. After several months, Father Gerard Byrne was appointed. Father Byrne had other counselling responsibilities within the Diocese and nationally. These might entail visitors requiring residential accommodation, so he had the presbytery altered: three bedrooms, all en-suite. He also organised the building of a meeting room. This has proved to be a great asset. In late 2003, Father Byrne was moved. Father Mark Davies who was Vicar-General of the Diocese came as priest-in-charge. He served here intermittently, liaising with Father James Manock who was the parish priest at St Mary’s, Radcliffe. One speciality of Father Mark was the Christmas Treasure Hunt. At the first Mass of Christmas children were invited to try and find the statue of Baby Jesus so that it could be placed in the crib. It had been hidden in an imaginative place and great fun was had by all.
In 2009, a new church was built in Radcliffe, Father James Manock came to live in the presbytery in Little Lever whilst Father Mark was appointed as Bishop-Elect of Shrewsbury, becoming bishop there in 2010.
Father Manock remained as parish priest in Radcliffe and priest-in-charge at Little Lever until 2019. He has responsibility for Liturgy within the Diocesan Department for Formation and during his time here, there was a great emphasis on celebrating the Liturgy with style and correctness.
The Present
St Teresa’s Parish became amalgamated with St Osmund’s, Breightmet and became part of the Blessed Dominic Barberi Parish in October 2019 with our new priest Father Dermot Heakin
