Chapter II: The Priests of the Nineteenth Century

Original design of St. Werburgh's, showing tower and spire.

The building of St. Werburgh's 

Four priests followed Canon Carbery in quick succession, Father Hopkins from 1861 to 1865, Father Lahaye from 1865 until his death two years later, Father Walton in 1867 to 8, and finally Canon Eugene Buquet, who was parish priest from 1868 until his departure for St. Werburgh's, Birkenhead, in 1882.

Eugene Buquet was French by birth. His parents had settled in Edinburgh after the French Revolution.23 Like John Briggs, he was educated at Sedgley Park School, before going in 1851 to Oscott College, the seminary for the Midland District. He was ordained there on June 3rd, 1860. He began his priestly life as a curate of St. Werburgh's, Birkenhead, and after five years there, was made Bishop's secretary. He took up his work as parish priest of Chester in July, 1868. Like Canon Carbery, he was made a member of the Cathedral Chapter, first as a Canon Penitentiary, and later, in 1883, as Provost, a post he retained until his death in 1898.

Canon Buquet's achievement in Chester lay in consolidating the work of his predecessors of the last hundred years, and in promoting Catholicism so that it might play its full part in the life of the city. In all the parish records that remain for the period when he was in charge, we can recognise his clarity of mind, his ability to organise and his energy. So extensive had the pastoral care of the parish become that assistant priests were now being regularly appointed. Five in succession helped him in his work. These were Father Thomas Mulvanny (1866-70), Edward Lynch (1870-71) who was to return as parish priest, James O'Brien (1871-75), Pacificus Capitani (1880-82) and Charles Cholmondeley. Canon Cholmondeley, who remained at Chester as assistant priest from 1871 to 1892, belonged to the prominent landed family of the Cholmondeleys of Cheshire. Educated at Rugby and Christ's College, Oxford, he was converted through contacts with Newman and the Oxford Movement. He completed his priestly studies at Oscott and was ordained, at the age of forty one, in 1866. After his death in 1897, it was said of him that "by nature and by grace he was a gentleman, and a Christian in the fullest sense of the word, generous to the Church and to the poor".

The most urgent need which faced Eugene Buquet when he arrived in Chester was the building of a new church, since by now the old chapel in Queen Street was totally inadequate for the increased numbers in the parish. Before long, through the generosity of two well-known benefactors to the diocese, Michael and John Harnett,24 the site of the present church, opposite Grosvenor Park, was acquired. Unfortunately, the 1875 Ordnance Map of Chester must have been made while the church was being built, so that it is too late to show the use of the site before this date. Traditionally, it was a field used for the grazing of donkeys. The map shows it abutting on the gardens of a large house, Forest House, from which the present Forest Street took its name. Park Road had recently been made, but Edwards Court where a large number of Catholics lived, still lay to the north of the site. There seems to be no record of the person from whom the site was purchased.

Two letters have been preserved at St. Werburgh's from Peter Paul Pugin, requesting from Canon Buquet the sum of £364 5s., for services in drawing up plans for the new church, but misunderstanding, a not uncommon feature in the life of the Pugin family, may have occurred. In the end, a relatively young and less known architect from Liverpool, Edmund Kirby, was chosen. St. Werburgh's is, therefore, an early example of much work which Kirby was to do in many parts of the diocese of Shrewsbury. It was a period in nineteenth century Catholic architecture when medieval styles were much in vogue. Dispensing with superfluous ornamentation in order to make the church as spacious as possible, Edmund Kirby used the Early English style, which is exemplified so beautifully in the old parish church of St. John's. The position of the site obliged him to build the church on a west-east axis with the altar at the west end, instead of the opposite and more correct way, with the altar facing east. Grey Stourton stone, which possesses great durability, was chosen for the exterior, with blue Welsh slate for the high-pitched roof. Within, the church was given an apsidal sanctuary, and the nave of four bays was separated from the aisles by massive pillars of red sandstone. Want of funds prevented Kirby's original plan from being fully implemented - in fact, it has never been carried out. He had wanted a nave of six bays, and in particular, a tower and 200ft. spire, which would have been a conspicuous landmark at that time, specially as the church is built on slightly rising ground. It was only in 1914 that the east end, where Kirby had planned the tower, was completed as it is today. The modern roadway would now prevent a tower from being built, but in 1875, the front of the building stood a considerable distance back. It is unfortunate that the plan of the tower and spire was not carried out as the church was first designed. They would have given an added dignity to the exterior, and a balance and completeness which the height of the roof demands, but which are lacking. A Mr. Brandreth, a convert, arranged in his will for an entailed £1,000 to be given ultimately for the erection of a tower. It has not yet arrived, but there is no need to comment on the inadequacy of such a sum for such a project today.

The foundation stone of the new church was laid on October 15th, 1873, and through the hard work of the contractor, Mr. Hughes of Aldford, it was ready for use by the end of 1875. It was on Christmas Day, 1875, that the first Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Manning. No details of the occasion seem to have survived, and the Parish Notice Book for this year is missing. There is, however, a full account, both in the Chester Chronicle and in the Cheshire Observer of the solemn opening, which took place on Thursday, July l3th, 1876, from which it is possible to reconstruct this event.

No pains were spared to make the opening as solemn and as splendid as possible. Pontifical High Mass - the first in Chester for three hundred years - was sung by Bishop O'Reilly of Liverpool, in the presence of Bishop Brown of Shrewsbury and a large gathering of canons and priests of the diocese. These were the days of elaborate church music, and we are told that "Haydn's Mass No. 1 was beautifully rendered by a selected band of fifteen performers and about twenty vocalists", and that "The cost of the band and extra chorus was defrayed by Thomas Wallington, Esq., of Latchford,25 Miss Wallington singing very sweetly and with much expression, the soprano solos in the service". It was also the time when "charity sermons" gave an added grandeur to a great occasion. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, Jesuits were very frequently invited to preach at St. Werburgh's, so it is not surprising to find so well known a preacher as Father Clare, S.J.26 being asked to render this service. His theme was the comfort and blessing which men received from the Church throughout their lives, and the sacrifices they should willingly make "to promote the external loveliness of God's Temples".

The writers of the two newspaper articles waxed eloquent on the rich and colourful scene inside the church, the profusion of rich flowers covering the altar, the crimson carpet on the altar steps, and the figured green carpet which covered the sanctuary. All this, together with the blazing lights of the candles, the incense, the vestments of the two bishops and their assistants, and the elaborate ritual of the full Latin Mass must have brought tremendous joy and pride to all present, and not least to Canon Buquet. To the modern reader, the only jarring note seems to be struck by the remark at the end that "the ceremony was witnessed by rather small numbers, owing probably to the somewhat heavy prices charged for admission". In any case, many of the poorer parishioners, of whom there were not a few, would have been at work on a Thursday morning at 11 o'clock, while the ceremony was in progress. Let us hope that "the similar service held in the evening when Father Clare again preached, and the special services held on the following Sunday" were for their benefit, and that even if they did not listen to Haydn's Mass, they did at least enjoy the "singing of the Hallelujah Chorus which brought the morning's celebration to a close".

St. Werburgh's church was not the only, nor indeed, the earliest building undertaken by Canon Buquet. The parish also had to thank him for the building of the Boys' and Infants' Schools in Queen Street. This was probably how he first came to know Edmund Kirby, whom he employed for the Boys' School in 1870. For this, a Chester contractor, Mr. Andrews, was used. The opening of the new church, and the erection, through the generosity of Mrs. Michael Harnett, of the presbytery beside it, freed the old chapel and presbytery in Queen Street. These now became the Girls' Department, and the caretaker's house.

Like his predecessors, Father Lahaye and Father Walton, Canon Buquet was a frequent visitor in the schools. He gave children religious instruction, and one reads in the Log Book of the Boys' School of his taking the boys of the Night School, who were often rough and noisy, into the old chapel in order to help them by his teaching. On one occasion, he brought a new map of Palestine into the school, and there were probably other gifts which have gone unrecorded. The schools and their work must have given the Canon great satisfaction, for there are numbers of entries in the Log Books, noting the visitors he took into them, especially soon after their new buildings were completed. On 30th April, 1875, he showed round no less a dignitary than Cardinal Manning, together with Bishop Brown and Father T. A. Bryan, to the excitement and curiosity of the children, one imagines, and the no less trepidation of the teacher, Mr. Ryder. All the same, the schools must have been a great financial worry to the Canon, partly because of the poverty of many parents who were unable to contribute even the 1d. a week asked from them, and consequently, kept their children away from school, and also because the Government grant depended on the results of the Inspectors' Reports. The new school had been built at a cost of £1,400. When one reads in the Log Book that total school fees for the year 1881 came to £96 5s. 3d. an increase of £36 on those of two years previously, such a debt must have seemed formidable. In spite of the considerable generosity of the wealthier members of the parish and of the Harnett family, there was the additional burden of the church debt to be paid. It is not surprising that Canon Buquet's successor, Edward Lynch, found when he returned to Chester, a total sum of £7,000 waiting to be paid off. Nowadays, when criticism is sometimes levelled against Catholic clergy in general for their too great preoccupation with money, it is well to remember the faith and courage with which nineteenth century priests faced poverty, sacrifice and anxiety over money, in order to give the twentieth century Church in England what it enjoys.