A Roman Catholic Church sited on Queens Promenade in the town of Ramsey. (
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The Wikipedia entry for the Church a little confusingly gives it location as Dale Street but entrance to the Church is from Queen's Promenade.
The Church is under the administration of the Catholic Dioceses of Liverpool in North West England.
Our Lady Star of Sea is an alternative title for The Virgin Mary see the following link for further information. (
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St. Maughold is a reference to a Catholic Saint who died in 488 AD and is the Patron Saint of the Isle of Man. (
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The Church is considered by some experts to be one of the finest on the Island and an early work by Giles Gilbert Scott being built in 1909-10 (some sources say 1910-1912). (
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The Church which has a simple rectangular plan is tall and spacious internally, with a with a low and intimate baptistry off to the north.
The Church was built largely of local stone but unusually on the Island has a rust-red roof. The interior is lined with bricks manufactured in St. John's.
In 'Churches of Mann', Jonathan Kewley describes some of the internal features of the Church as follows as follows:
"...the stars around the altar are, like those throughout the interior, a tribute to the 'Star of the Sea." and
"The reredos over the high alter was, like most of the fittings, also designed by Scott; it is the form of a triptych in which the side panels are hinged and so can be brought forward to close it up when liturgical practice demands. The paintings are by Francis Burlison."
Below is an extract from an article in Issue 38, May 2007 of the Journal of the Ecclesiological Society by Paul Walker:
"Our Lady Star of the Sea & St Maughold, Ramsay, Isle Of Man …, was designed in the same year as the Sheringham church and has a similar long and narrow interior, with large areas of simple bare whitewashed brickwork and culminating in an elaborate triptych reredos set against the blank east wall. This, again, was carved by Ratcliffe and contains paintings by Miss Burlison. It does not, however, have aisles but only a south chapel, separated from the chancel by low arches with, again, the mouldings dying into the piers. Three boldly scaled windows of powerful design penetrate the south-facing (liturgical north) wall; the opposite wall is unbroken. Overhead is a timber wagon vault, with timber tie-beams. What is most impressive at Ramsay is the rugged west tower (the church is built of rubble stone from local demolished buildings, with dressings of imported Bramley Fall stone from Yorkshire) on an oblong plan and with a huge belfry window similar in form to the transept windows at Liverpool. The church stands by the shore and the tower faces the sea, with observation platforms below the pitched roof, acting as a lookout and landmark for fishing boats. The contiguous presbytery exhibits the continuing influence of Scott’s father’s domestic designs. The church was built in 1909–12." Source: ecclsoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ET.38.pdf
In 'An Introduction to the Architecture of the Isle of Man Isle of Man, Patricia Tutt describes the exterior of the Church as being "...rather French Romanesque in style." and describes the Scott designed exterior Crucifix as follows:
"...this crucifix bearing the lettering 'ego si exaltatus fuero a terra omnia traham' (and I, when I am lifted up from earth, will draw all people unto me', John 12:32, with the words 'a terra' removed'. There is correspondence on the file about the cross on the west gable, on which the carver made an "unfortunate mistake...where two 'omegas' were shown on the shields, instead of an 'alpha' and 'omega' as intended". It was quickly corrected."
source: An introduction to the Architecture of the Isle of Man by Patricia Tutt (ISBN 978-1-907945-10-6)
source: Churches of Mann by Jonathan Kewley (ISBN 978-1-899602-82-7)
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