ves
with the small building in Chapel-yard until 1761, when a new place
of worship, dedicated to St. Mary, was erected upon part of the site
of the convent of Grey Friars. Towards this chapel the Duke of
Norfolk gave a handsome sum, and presented, for the altar, a curious
painting of the Lord's Supper. But this building did not enjoy a
very prosperous career, for in 1768, during a great election riot,
it was pulled down by an infuriated mob, all the Catholic registers
in it were burned, and the priest--the Rev. Patrick Barnewell--only
saved his life by beating a rapid retreat at the rear, and crossing
the Ribble at an old ford below Frenchwood. Another chapel was
subsequently raised, upon the present site of St. Mary's, on the
west side of Friargate, but when St. Wilfrid's was opened, in 1793,
it was closed for religious purposes and transmuted into a cotton
warehouse. The following priests were at St. Mary's from its opening
in 1761 until its close in 1793:- Revs. Patrick Barnewell, Joseph
Smith, John Jenison, Nicholas Sewall, Joseph Dunn, and Richard
Morgan. The two last named gentleman lived together in a cottage, on
the left side of the entrance to the chapel, behind which they had a
fine room commanding a beautiful view of the Ribble, Penwortham,
&c., for at that time all was open, on the western side of
Friargate, down to the river. Whittle, speaking of Father Dunn, says
he was "the father of the Catholic school, the House of Recovery,
and the Gasworks," and adds, with a plaintive bathos, that "on the
very day he left this sublunary world he rose, as was his custom,
very early, and in the course of his rambles exchanged a sovereign
for sixpences, for distribution amongst the indigent."

In 1815 the chapel was restored; but not long afterwards its roof
fell in. Nobody however was hurt, just because nobody was in the
building at the time. The work of reparation followed, and the
chapel was deemed sufficient till 1856, when it was entirely rebuilt
and enlarged. As it was then fashioned so it remains. It is a chapel
of ease for St. Wilfrid's, and is attended to a very large extent by
Irish people. The situation of it is lofty; it stands upon higher
ground than any other place of worship in the town; but it is so
hemmed in with houses, &c., that you can scarcely see it, and if you
could get a full view of it nothing very beautiful would be observed
about the exterior. The locality in which this chapel is placed is
cr