Plans for Rishton's St Charles church to be demolished

John Corrigan, on behalf of the Diocese of Salford, applied to Hyndburn Council seeking permission to demolish St Charles’ Church, in St Charles Road.

The church and attached presbytery closed in 2020 and as a result has deteriorated in condition and the buildings cost too much to repair, the application says.

It also belongs to the local primary school of the same name, which is to remain.

It is proposed a controlled demolition by excavator with specialist grab attachment will be the preferred method to bring down the structure.

Then demolition by hand would be carried out on the structure which is close to the school building.

All rubble will be removed from site, with timber and steel moved to a recycling facility, masonry crushed for re-use as hardcore, and non-recyclable materials to landfill.

The site will then be levelled and well compacted pending future expansion of the school’s play area.

If approved, works will commence on July 17 and are expected to be complete by September 15.

A statement on the Clayton, Rishton and Great Harwood Parish website read: “After St Charles’ Church was forced to close at the start of the pandemic in 2020 it became clear the repairs to the building were so substantial it was not viable to consider reopening the building.

“The Diocese understood the sadness felt by parishioners and have been working hard with the parish and local primary school to accommodate the parish community in Rishton.

“It has been agreed a mass centre will be created within the school hall. This will allow our community to be able to access mass in the building that was the former home of the church.

“As a consequence the current church and presbytery will need to be demolished and the Diocese are in the process of arranging this.

“We hope that this solution will allow our faithful community to continue to gather in worship and serve the local area with their charitable works.”

A decision will be made by Hynburn Council .