St Peter’s & Paul’s Catholic Church - Bolton
It was late December, and after a string of failures in the surrounding area, this was our last chance for the day. Honestly, we were in two minds about whether we even had the energy to bother. With the winter daylight slipping away in the blink of an eye, we decided to give it a shot and see what the crack was.
The boarded-up front door confirmed we were in the right place. One thing I always struggle with when it comes to churches is figuring out whether they’re genuinely abandoned or just in disrepair—they always seem to exist in a strange limbo. This particular church had been explored just a few days earlier, with one dramatic report painting it as a death trap for any would-be adventurer, complete with the sensational slogan, “The Church of Broken Explorers.”
Access wasn’t exactly easy, but the clickbait-style warnings were definitely overblown. On the positive side they probably discouraged a few gullible explorers from trying. To get inside, we had to climb a moss-covered container that was slick as ice and then navigate through a ridiculous amount of razor wire. It wasn’t the easiest start, but once past that, the way on was fairly straightforward.
Inside, the church was stripped bare, though it wasn’t in terrible shape considering the circumstances. The atmosphere was oddly tense, as if a caretaker might stroll through the front door at any moment, but thankfully, that never happened. We explored without hassle, leaving some of the upper floors alone—they were in rough shape, likely damaged by the fire that had swept through prior.
The most eventful part of the visit came when we climbed the bell tower. A battle with the resident pigeons broke out as they weren’t too keen on sharing their turf. Victory felt hollow, though, when we discovered the tiniest church bell I’ve ever seen—not exactly what we’d hoped for after the climb.
History
“Built in 1896 this was the first catholic church in the area and cost just over £20,200 which was a monumental amount at the time (around $3.3million in today's money) and would take 30 years to be paid off. The church could seat around 800 people but would require the need for more space and so in 1905 a new gallery was installed. The roof of the church was destroyed by fire in 1925 and would require reconstructing, following the priests death in 1933 the rails and gate to the chapel entry were erected in honor of his memory. with post-war housing clearance and re-settlement, the population declined, and by the late 1970s the parish had become one of the smallest in the deanery. Over the following years a scheme would roll out to simplify the churches interior which included removing the gallery and some statues, a fire would later break out in 1983 causing wide spread damage and later be repaired. In 1994 the presbytery vacated and in the following years the church itself would shut for good, its has stood vacant now since 2010”.
