‘Miracle of the roses’ church is under threat of closure
ST Mary’s ‘On the Hill’ RC church in Heaton Norris, perched on a red sandstone rock above the motorway, is one of 40 churches in the Salford diocese earmarked for possible closure in a ‘pruning for growth’ exercise by the Bishop of Salford.
Listed in Pevsner’s Buildings of England it stands in a conservation area, an historic building with a distinctive architectural style by Pugin and Pugin, who designed Gorton Monastery, completed in 1897.
On its 50th anniversary in 1947 it enjoyed notoriety for the so called ‘miracle of the roses,’ when religious enthusiasm led thousands of visitors from all over Britain and Ireland to form queues outside the church.
A crown of roses placed on the head of the statue of the Virgin Mary stayed fresh month after month without apparently being replaced. Pilgrims wended their way up the narrow cobbled roads of Dodge Hill to get a glimpse.
Parish priest Dr James Turner, a man with a commanding personality, flatly refused to let ‘any godless scientist or botanist’ inspect the flowers, so it remained a mystery. However, there were rumours that the Bishop himself had threatened to come and examine the roses, and after a reign of about five months the Virgin’s floral crown was removed.
Years later, in 1985, a former altar boy at the church, Arthur Clare, claimed the petals were wired on, and other whistle blowers said the priest had a secret regular order with a local florist.
Whatever the truth of the matter, Father Turner was an unusual priest. He once threatened to excommunicate a customs officer who stopped him trying to import a suitcase full of duty free cigars.
He also had the bright idea of suggesting to the Mother’s Union that they all donate their wedding rings to make a golden crown for the Virgin, which would become his property should he move on. Eventually, after several warnings, the Bishop retired him on grounds of ‘ill health.’
The ‘church on the hill’ continues to support its small community and sees no need to remind people of the time it once displayed to thousands a seemingly miraculous crown of eternal roses. »»Many more intriguing stories in Stockport Heritage Magazine on sale at newsagents, bookshops, Co-ops, Heritage outlets and online, it’s also a good place to advertise stockportheritage magazine.co.uk.