THE CHURCH
OF THE ANNUNCIATION
History
The Church of the Annunciation is a large and vibrant
community of the faithful situated near the heart of the town.
The church was originally founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
in 1854. It was designed by the architect Joseph Hansom
and is a Grade II listed building.
In 1840, the Jesuits founded Mount St Mary's College in Spinkhill.
From there they missioned to the local community.
In the 1850s they decided to build a church in Chesterfield.
Joseph Hansom was asked to design the church.
He designed numerous churches for the Jesuits,
such as Our Lady Immaculate and St Joseph Church, Prescot,
the St Walburge's Church, Preston, St Joseph's Church, Leigh,
the Holy Name Church,
Manchester and St Aloysius Gonzaga Church, Oxford.
The Jesuit influence is visible in the church in the window immediately before the entrance to the Sacristy. It shows a priest saying Mass
before a group of Jesuits. Among those depicted are St Ignatius Loyola and St Francis Xavier.
In 1881, the current organ was installed, it was built by Henry Willis Senior of Henry Willis & Sons.
At some point in the early to mid-20th century the administration of the parish was handed over by the Jesuits to the Diocese of Nottingham.
In 1980, Chesterfield and other parts of north Derbyshire became part
of the then newly created Diocese of Hallam who continue
to serve the parish.
December 2017 saw our newly refurbished church completed,
and the inauguration of the Parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace
with the Church of the Holy Family.
Previous Parish Priests
Fr. T.M. Hill SJ - 1854 - 1855
Fr. W. Brindle SJ - 1856 - 1865
Fr. W. Lea SJ - 1866 - 1868
Fr. H. Birch SJ - 1868 - 1871
Fr. H. Everard SJ - 1871 - 1872
Fr. W. Cardwell SJ - 1872 - 1881
Fr. J. Splaine SJ - 1881 - 1887
Fr. T. Williams SJ - 1887 - 1889
Fr. J. Jackson SJ - 1889 - 1899
Fr. J. Ryan SJ - 1899 - 1902
Fr. W. Splaine SJ - 1902 - 1911
Fr. P. Hassan SJ - 1911 - 1922
Fr. J. Corr SJ - 1922 - 1927
Fr. W. Ross SJ - 1927 - 1932
Fr. H. Wilson Dr - 1932 - 1944
Fr. E.H. Atkinson Canon - 1944 - 1951
Fr. L.J. Williamson Canon - 1951 - 1967
Fr. D. Ryan Canon - 1967 - 1985
Fr. S.P. Sullivan Mgr - 1985 - 1992
Fr. J. Metcalfe - 1992 - 1995
Fr. W.A. Burke - 1995 - 2004
Fr. M.G. McManus - 2005 - 2016
Fr. A.P.I. Tomlinson - 2016 -
Children's Liturgy
The Children's Liturgy offers children an insight
into the Sunday Gospel,
and encourages the children to live that Gospel
during the coming week.
We offer the Liturgy weekly, in term time,
during the 10.00am Sunday Mass.
Music at the CHURCH
OF THE Annunciation
At the Annunciation there has been a wide variety of music over the years. After Covid, we have re-launched and focussed on building a choir of at least 4 voice parts capable of performing simple songs to complex unaccompanied pieces.
The full choir rehearses at least once every month, more at Christmas and Easter.
Many members sing every Sunday (with a short rehearsal before the 10am mass), some choose to sing just for the special occasions of the church year. We often meet socially for coffee after Sunday 10am mass.
Our aim is to bring the beauty of the Catholic liturgy to life. The saying “the one who sings prays twice” makes the point that music is prayer.
We welcome people to try out the choir. We don’t need you to sight read, or even read music well. There are lots of resources to help. The right attitude is more important!
We are also very fortunate at the Annunciation to have two organs to accompany our worship. In April 2024 we celebrated this by having an open console day where we showed people the organs and let them try both out. We plan to repeat this event again in the future, but we are always happy to have visitors try out the organs.
For more information on any aspect of the music, please contact the Parish Office.