St John's Church, Wigan

Built in the Romanesque Revival style, St John's Catholic Church off Standishgate, Wigan, was commissioned by The Society Of Jesus, and stands only 200ft from St Mary's Catholic Church, built in Gothic Revival style, both being opened in the same year, 1819.
Two churches were built, in friendly rivalry, because the local Diocese wanted control over their own church!
After the Jesuits gave control of St John's to the local archdiocese in 1933, the two churches formed one Parish, but in 2017, after a reorganisation, they became separate once again.