St Walburge’s in Preston – Joseph Hansom’s Gothic Revival masterpiece – was almost derelict, but a group of traditionalist priests have brought it back from the brink

Every morning a priest in black cassock and white lace-edged surplice stands in the arch beneath the great steeple of St Walburge’s and tolls the bell summoning the faithful to Mass. There is a delay of several seconds between his pull on the rope and the first sonorous boom. It is an extraordinary sound in this part of Preston where few Catholics live today and where for years this magnificent Gothic Revival church was neglected and on the brink of closure.

St Walburge’s is now open every day. Outside a blackboard lists the liturgical schedule. Banners hang on the railings inviting people to come on guided tours. Inside, the 8.30 a.m. weekday Mass is celebrated by a young priest in the Tridentine Rite. Three nuns wearing white veils and long blue satin cloaks sit in the front row. There is a sprinkling of other worshippers. Even on this sunny autumn day, there is a chill in the air and there are red tartan blankets on the pews for when it gets colder.

On the sanctuary, just beyond temporary altar rails, is a statue of the dead Christ on a bier, his wounds prominent on white flesh. The sanctuary is crowded with statuary and the church is festooned with processional banners. For the past five years St Walburge’s has been in the care of a traditionalist group, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, which has made it a shrine church dedicated to the celebration of the Mass in Extraordinary Form.