The Cathedral Church of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury can be found in the town of Northampton.
The origins of the current building date back to 1840 when Bishop Wareing commissioned Augustus Welby, Northmore and Pugin to design a collegiate chapel of St Felix which was built in 1844.
The number of worshippers soon outgrew the size of the building and Pugin’s son Edward Welby Pugin was chosen by Bishop Amhurst to design an extension in order to make the building into a cathedral. This extension came in the form of the current nave which was opened in 1864, dedicated to Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury.
The cathedral was left in this form until 1948-55 when it was decided by Bishop Leo Parker that the west end of the cathedral should be extended. This meant that St Andrew’s chapel had to be demolished in order for the development to go ahead. The original east end was replaced by a straight east end, transepts and a crossing tower all by Albert Herbert The last changes were in 1988 when the land adjoining the Barrack Road was converted to a car park.
