Memorial details

Memorial type
Chapel or Church: Freestanding building
District
Blackpool
Town
Blackpool
County
Lancashire
Country
England
Commemoration
Second World War (1939-1945)
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
72248

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Current location

Close to Victoria Hospital
Blackpool
Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes
Whinney Heys Road
Blackpool
Blackpool
Lancashire
FY3 8NP
England

OS Grid Ref: SD 332 368
Denomination: Undefined

View location on Google Maps
Description
This is a grade II listed building built in thanksgiving to commemorate the fact that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster emerged relatively unscathed from WW2. Blackpool was chosen as being centrally located within the Diocese. The building is of white Portland stone.
Inscription
Commemoration stone on the exterior of the building, in Latin: DEO OMNIPOTENTI IN HONOREM BEATAE MARIAE VIRGINIS IMMACULATAE DE LA PUR DI. QUAE PER DIES GRASSANTIS BELLI ECCLESIAS HUIUS DIOECESIS ET FIDELES INCLUMES BENIGNISSIMA SERVAVIT TUTELA. HUNC LAPIDEM GRATO POSUIT ANIMO THOMAS EDUARDUS EPISCOPUS LANCASTRENSIS DIE VIII SEPT MCMLV Translated as: ‘By Almighty God in Honour of the pure Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate. This diocese and faith remained safe from raging war. This stone laid by Thomas Edward, Bishop of Lancaster on 8 Sept 1955’
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Undefined
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Church
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone - Portland
Listing information
  • THANKSGIVING SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES
  • Grade II*
  • This memorial is protected, and listed on the National Heritage List for England maintained by Historic England. View list entry
  • More about listing and the protection of historic places can be found on the Historic England website
  • Historic England
Condition
History
The Shrine of our Lady of Lourdes was built as a war memorial thanksgiving chapel between 1955 and 1957. It was designed by Francis Xavier Velarde (1897-1960) and its construction was funded by contributions from local parishes. According to Wikipedia: The shrine was deconsecrated in 1993, and passed into the ownership of the Historic Chapels Trust a secular charity, in 2000 in a poor state and without an endowment. A £100,000 grant awarded by English Heritage assisted with urgent rescue repairs, completed in April 2008, dealing with the leaking copper roof and improving the rainwater disposal system.
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Responsibility
Historic Chapels Trust
Reference

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.

This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:

© WMR-72248

For queries, please contact [email protected].