St. Patrick's Church
St Patrick's Church
St. Patrick’s is one of the finest Victorian Churches in the Diocese of Carlisle. It was built by Levi Hodgson and Robert McAdam of Patterdale to the design of the famous architect Anthony Salvin. The Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Carlisle on 3 November 1853 . An excellent meeting room was added in 1995. The present St. Patrick’s replaced a Church built about 1600.
To see a chronological list of the clergy of the church since 1547, click the button below.
To explore photos and transcripts of all the memorials and gravestones, click on the desired button below.
Earlier Churches
There have been earlier places of worship in the Dale. A charter of 1348 refers to ‘the Chapel of Patricksdale’.
There is also a ruin on Boredale Hause, on the way over to Martindale, which may have been a Chapel, although no evidence has been found.
St Patrick's Church - pre 1850
Patterdale Church painted by J M W Turner - c1810
Patterdale Church drawn by J M W Turner - 1797
Saint Patrick & Local Tradition
Local tradition says that Saint Patrick came to this Dale in the early 5th century, that he converted many local people to Christianity and that the Dale is named after him (St. Patrick’s Dale or Patterdale). Not far from the Church and close to the War Memorial is St. Patrick’s Well.
Who was Saint Patrick?
Saint Patrick was born about 390 in Roman Britain, possibly near the Solway. He would have spoken his native Celtic (Welsh) language of old Britain but would also have written and spoken the Latin language of the Roman Occupation and of the Romano-British Church which was his Christian background.
When a young man, Saint Patrick was stolen from his home by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland . He escaped and returned to Britain , where, as a man of simplicity, prayer and purpose was ordained priest. In about 430, the Church in Britain sent him back to Ireland as a missionary Bishop.
Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland and Patterdale, died in about 460.
For a more comprehensive account of St Patrick, visit the WikiPedia page click here.
Inside the Church
Ann Macbeth Embroidery
The beautiful embroidery of the Good Shepherd on the north wall was made in 1938 by Ann Macbeth (1875-1948) who was a distinguished member of the Glasgow School of Art and who came to live in Patterdale. Opposite the Good Shepherd hangs a printed reproduction of Ann Macbeth’s Patterdale Nativity copied from the original embroidery which belongs to Glasgow. There are two more beautiful embroideries by Ann Macbeth in the Church. A touching embroidery by Joan Drew asks God to ‘keep the mountain lands all the winter through’. Local people with the school children made the interesting banner.
Pipe Organ
St Patrick's is remarkably privileged to have a particularly fine instrument which was built by leading organ builders of the Victorian period, William Hill, who also built, amongst others, the organs at Ely and Chester Cathedrals, King's College Cambridge and the Chapel Royal.
In October 2012 the organ was dismantled by Andrew Carter of Wakefield whose firm renovated the organ to a very high standard and increased its number of pipes from 660 to 931. It was reinstalled in March 2013 to great acclaim. The cost was £75,000, of which £60,000 was raised by the Friends with significant contributions from two principal donors, Stephen Gorton and Mike Town. The Carlisle Diocese provided us with a loan for the remaining £15,000 which has now been repaid thanks to the success of the Church's concert programme and Mike Town's weekly "The Local Organist Entertains" that takes place at 8.30pm mainly on Mondays during the summer.
Altar at the West End of the Church
Altar came originally from the Church of St. Martin in the Fields in London . It was given to the well known sculptor, Josefina de Vasconcellos, who placed it in a Chapel, part of a house in the Duddon valley used to help young disadvantaged people. In 1970 the Altar was dedicated by the Bishop of Carlisle ‘in memory of all those who have lost their lives in air crashes on the Lakeland fells’. In the Millennium year Josefina gave the Altar to St. Patrick’s to be a place of pilgrimage for relatives and friends. The book near the Altar shows that over 500 people lost their lives in air crashes on the Lakeland fells in the 1939-45 war and afterwards. St. Patrick’s, a beautiful Church in the midst of the Lakeland fells, is a fitting place for remembrance
Altar at the East End of the Church
People come to the main Altar at the east end of the Church to take part in the Service of Holy Communion, which celebrates God’s love, forgiveness and hope. The Altar is magnificent — made of oak and part of the original furniture of the Victorian Church .
Page Editor: Richard Theobald
Page Last Reviewed: 29 Apr 2024