A former Catholic church in Oldham is to be demolished under plans approved by the town hall.
St Anne’s Church in Greenacres is to be knocked down after an application by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford was given the green light.
The red brick building on Cook Street was built in 1935 by Father John Linehan, after being founded in 1878 at a site in Airey Street to accommodate a growth in the Catholic population in the district.
This had been largely brought about by an increase in Irish immigrants to Oldham, who first met in a flat over a pub or a lodging house off Lees Road.
A small church and school was subsequently built on land off Balfour Street, which was extended to include a bigger school and presbytery.
When the new church was built on Cook Street it cost £25,000, a significant sum at the time.
St Anne's Church in Oldham. Photo: Bradbury Consulting
It was designed by Harold Greenhalgh, a well regarded local architect in the modern basilican Romanesque style and could seat 850 parishioners.
The nave was partly subdivided to create a parish hall in 1990 and the adjoining 1930s presbytery was also sold off in the 1990s.
The church celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2010 with a celebration mass.
However it closed its doors permanently in 2019.
According to documents submitted with the planning application, it is understood that the church has fallen into a ‘state of dilapidation including water ingress, failing high-level plasterwork and failing high-level roof structures’.
Inside St Anne's Church in Oldham. Photo: Bradbury Consulting.
No evidence of bat roosting was recorded during an external inspection of the building, however the interior was deemed unsafe to enter.
Council officers recommended that a dawn survey is taken between May and August to establish the likely presence of bat roosts in the building.
An ecological survey states that St Anne’s Church has the potential to be used by nesting birds, and recommends demolition work take place outside of the bird nesting season to avoid a potential impact on active nests and any eggs, chicks or adult birds.
As per the permission granted by Oldham council, demolition works can only take place between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday, and 9am and 1pm Saturdays, with no work taking place on Sundays or public holidays.
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