St Catharine's Church

This is the view of St Catharine's Church in Scholes, Wigan, familiar to me on my journey to and from work. It was built on a geological fault, which runs by Amberswood Common, under the church to the Boar?s Head at Standish. In 1860, because of extensive coal mining in the area, the fault moved, and with it the west end of the church, including the spire, causing it to lean and twist. So it was that St Catharine?s Church became the building well known around Wigan as the church with the leaning spire.

Recently, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded almost £750,000 for repairs to be carried out to make the church safe. The steeple that has been repaired over the years will be carefully dismantled and rebuilt to ensure its safety. I thought I'd better get there before the scaffold goes up!