St Giles' Catholic Church, Cheadle: Difference between revisions

The history of St Giles' begins with the establishment of a Catholic mission in Cheadle by Father [[William Wareing]], a future [[Bishop of Northampton]]. He was an assistant to [[Thomas Baddeley (priest)|Thomas Baddeley]] at [[Cresswell, Staffordshire|Cresswell]], and in the early 1820s he opened a small chapel in a private house in Charles Street, Cheadle. Among those attending Mass there was [[Charles Talbot, 15th Earl of Shrewsbury]], when he stayed at [[Alton Abbey]] without his chaplain. As Wareings' efforts bore fruit, the room became inadequate for the growing numbers, and Lord Shrewsbury asked him to look for larger premises. Eventually he obtained, on the Earl's behalf, a building about {{convert|60|ft|m}} in length which had been built as an [[armoury (military)|armoury]] for the local [[Militia (United Kingdom)|militia]] during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], and the adjoining [[adjutant]]'s house. This was converted into the new chapel, and the first resident priest was James Jeffries, appointed in 1827. In the same year the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury died and was succeeded by his nephew, [[John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury|John Talbot, as the 16th Earl]]. Earl John made Alton Abbey his principal residence and renamed it "[[Alton Towers]]".