Wrexham Cathedral

{{Short description|Roman Catholic cathedral in Wales}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}} {{Use British English|date=July 2015}} {{Infobox church | name = Wrexham Cathedral | full_name = Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Sorrows (St Mary's) | image = Wrexham Cathedral (geograph 5518262 cropped).jpg | image_size = | alt = | landscape = | caption = Exterior | pushpin_map = Wales Wrexham | pushpin_label_position = left | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_mapsize = | map_caption = Shown within Wrexham | coordinates = {{coord|53.0474|-2.9986|region:GB|format=dms|display=title}} | osgraw =  | location = Wrexham, | country = Wales | denomination = Roman Catholic | tradition = | website = | former_name = | consecrated = 1857 | status = | functional_status = | heritage_designation = | designated = | previous_cathedrals = | architect = E. W. Pugin | architectural_type = | style = Gothic Revival | years_built = 1857 | groundbreaking = | completed = | construction_cost = | closed = | demolished =

| capacity = | length = | width = | height =

| archdiocese = | metropolis = | diocese = Wrexham | province = Cardiff

| archbishop = | bishop = Peter Brignall | dean = }} The '''Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Sorrows''', also known as '''St Mary's Cathedral''' ({{langx|cy|Eglwys Gadeiriol y Santes Fair}}) or '''Wrexham Cathedral''', is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Wrexham, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Wrexham, and mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrexham (founded in 1987).

==History== The cathedral was originally built as a parish church in 1857. Its architect, Edward Welby Pugin, adopted a 14th-century Decorated Gothic style. The church replaced an earlier chapel, located in King Street, which by the 1850s was deemed insufficient for the growing congregation, and finance was provided by a local industrialist.<ref name="Saint1995">{{cite book|author=Andrew Saint|title=The Victorian Church: Architecture and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GO7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA128|year=1995|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-4020-7|pages=128}}</ref> Further additions to satisfy a still-growing congregation were made in the mid-20th century, in the form of the cloister and side chapel.

The church was designated a pro-cathedral in 1898 upon the establishment of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia.<ref name="Saint1995"/> It was consecrated on 7 November 1907.<ref name="Larsen2016">{{cite book|author=Chris Larsen|title=Catholic Bishops of Great Britain: A Reference to Roman Catholic Bishops from 1850 to 2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Y0NDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA128|date=1 April 2016|publisher=Sacristy Press|isbn=978-1-910519-25-7|pages=128}}</ref>

==The cathedral today==

Wrexham Cathedral is now a Grade II listed building.

==Notable memorials== *Plaque to Flight Lieutenant David Lord (killed 1944), Victoria Cross recipient at Battle of Arnhem.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openchurchnetwork.co.uk/churches.asp?cid=24|title=Open Church Network – Opening the doors to the historic churches of Wrexham|access-date=9 November 2009}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}} * {{Official website|http://www.wrexhamcathedral.org.uk/}}

Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1857 Category:19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Category:Roman Catholic cathedrals in Wales Category:Wrexham Category:Grade II listed churches in Wrexham County Borough Category:Diocese of Wrexham Category:Grade II listed cathedrals in Wales Category:1857 establishments in Wales Category:E. W. Pugin church buildings