Welcome To Derby Ghost
Capital Of England --St Mary's Church,
Bridge Gate
St
Mary's St Mary's Church, Bridge Gate
St
Mary's Church, Bridge Gate
St Mary's Church was
built
by
Augustus Pugin, who also drew
designs for the Houses of Parliament. Before 1840, Catholics in Derby
were
allowed to worship only in the
Catholic Chapel in Chapel Street, but
with the large influx of Irish
immigrants to Derby with the building of the railways, land was
purchased on Bridge Gate for a new Catholic church. It was,
incidentally, Pugin's the first Catholic church and although he
designed over 100 churches altogether, St Mary's has always been
considered his masterpiece.
The ghost of a priest has
been seen on the right-hand side of St Mary's
Church. The story goes that a newly- installed priest was coming down
the stairs with three other priests.
Arriving in the main
church the new priest mentioned to the others that
he had not realised that there would be four other priests there that
day. The others looked confused and told him that he must be mistaken
as they were only three and he now made four. The new priest looked
shocked and told the others that they had not long been seated upstairs
for their meeting when an older priest with grey hair had joined them.
St
Mary's Church, Bridge Gate
