Cardinal Newman College, St Augustine Building

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 14 Jan 2015

Cardinal Newman College is a Catholic sixth form college close to the centre of Preston. The St Augustine’s Centre was acquired in 2010. This building hosts a variety of newly renovated classrooms and drama/dance studios as well as the original sports facilities. A notable feature is the front portico and flanking towers of the former St Augustine’s of Canterbury RC Church facing onto St Austin’s Road. St Augustine's of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church was built between 1838-40; in 1879 it was enlarged by the addition of a new sanctuary. Major alterations were made in 1890 when the church's front was remodelled by the construction of two towers surmounted by cupolas being added to the refashioned earlier Ionic portico. Collapse of part of the ceiling and panelling in 1984 led to the discovery of widespread dry rot and the church was immediately closed. It remained closed until demolition in 2004*, after which a new community centre was constructed on the site of the former church and land immediately adjacent. Despite demolition of the main section of the church, the front portico and towers remain intact. They are Grade II listed by English Heritage because “the well-balanced and successfully executed juxtaposition of Classical Ionic and Italian Renaissance design from the 1890s modification of the church provides significant architectural merit” and “the surviving elements of the former church remain as a conspicuous architectural element of the local streetscape” (English Heritage Building ID: 392137 http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-392137-front-portico-and-towers-of-the-former-s British Listed Buildings). * A number of photographs taken during the demolition may be seen at St Augustine’s Flickr photostream https://www.flickr.com/photos/catholicpreston/page3/ .

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