St Alban
Denaby Main, Yorkshire
The first Roman Catholic priest appointed in Denaby Main was Father Kavanagh in 1894. Services took place in a disused schoolroom near the railway.
This was demolished in 1975 and a new church opened. Fire damaged the church in 1977 and it reopened in 1979.
Many of the items in church remain from the earlier church, from windows to floor timbers, pews to ceiling timbers, font to pulpit. After the fire of 1977, the Wall of Friendship was added behind the Holy Table. Also see the fascinating Miners Memorial Chapel. It was opened in 1989 and contains many items from coal mines in the local area. The walls of the chapel are built mainly of firebricks from Cadeby Pit and inside the tower the bricks are from Manvers, Kilnhurst, Rossington and Hickleton Pits.
Above the nave are wooden pit props from Barnburgh Colliery. The altar encases a one ton piece of coal from Manvers Main. The windows depict Denaby Pit and a miner. The wheel in the chapel was the last working one used at Cadeby Colliery when it closed. It weighs 9 tons and spans 19 feet. The lamp tower provides light for the chapel and at night the light shines out at the top to remind Denaby people and those through of our heritage.
