Welcome to the beautiful Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin in the Parish of Prescot. Built in 1610, it is now Knowsley’s only Grade I listed building. You begin your tour in the porch, by the west doors.
The church is the fourth to stand on this site since Saxon times. The first would have been a simple structure of timber, the second probably wattle and daub, and the third stone.
The present building was constructed using local sandstone and is in the true ecclesiastical style of Gothic architecture. It was completed in 1610 and dedicated to St Mary the Blessed Virgin the same year.
An earlier structure, a small chantry chapel built by the Bold family and dating to 1410 is evident in the vestry at the north east end of the building. It is the last remaining of three chantry chapels which were in the area, and each would have retained a priest.