St Richard's Church

184  Liverpool Road
Skelmersdale
Lancashire
WN8 8BX

Navigation Link to St Richard's

(The St John Rigby Centre, Parish Office and Priest's House are also located on this site)

St Richard's, church was designed by Edward Welby Pugin in 1864, and was opened on the 18th June 1865 by the Right Reverend Alexander Goss, the second Bishop of Liverpool, to serve the growing farming and mining community in this part of Lancashire. The original St Richard's School was situated on the same site. With the advent of the New Town in the 1960s St Richard's became the base for a much wider mission to those moving out of Liverpool in search of a new life. The first priority was education and so a further six primary schools were built, each serving as a Mass centre for the local community. In time a new church was built under the patronage of St Richard of Chichester's great friend, St Edmund of Canterbury. In time this development was followed by the building of St Francis of Assisi and ultimately St Mary Queen of Apostles. St Richard's was consecrated by Archbishop Patrick Kelly in 2006.

For more information about the work of the Pugin family click here to be directed to the web site of the Pugin society.

2015 is the 150th anniversary of St Richard's - and we are planning a series of events starting in 2014 to celebrate this landmark.  We are aiming to raise funds to allow us to install a new stained glass window of the patron saint of the area, St John Rigby, in the Church.  

If you would like to donate to the 150th celebrations - then we have a PayPal account which is now taking donations - just click on the "Donate" button below.  Thanks!!