St Begas.

[brad]

Please can anybody help me out.Looking for the Catholic Chapel at Begas  near Cleator. Cumbria This  is where my family were married and although I have a marriage certificate I would love to find the banes of Marriage.
Where can i go for these . the name is John Carrol and Catherine Carton who married there in 1869 the second of January.
Any help would be great plus a photo of the church would be great. Thanks  Brad.

[Geoff-E]

You could do worse than send an e-mail here http://www.cleatormoorblog.co.uk/

(Contact tab at top of page)

I'm not sure there was ever a place called Begas.  The church ar Whitehaven is Saint Begh's which opened in the 1860, replacing the earlier St Gregory's chapel.  I believe the saint was St Bega.

[Jos, Whitehaven]

The foundation stone of the present Catholic Church at Cleator was laid in October 1869 and opened in June 1872. This church was dedicated to "Our Lady of the Sacred Heart" (i.e. "St Mary's" for short).

However, the previous Catholic Church at Cleator was built in 1853 under the guidance of Father Gregory Holden OSB and opened in December of that year. This original church was dedicated to St Bega. This is the church where your ancestors would have married in January 1869.

Copies of the Catholic marriage records, baptisms and funerals of the Cleator parish are available at the County Records Office in Whitehaven. If there were marriage banns they should be there as well.

The present Catholic Church of St Begh's referred to by Geoff-E was opened in September 1868. Originally it was generally known as "St Bees".

The patron saint for both the 1853 Cleator church and the 1868 Whitehaven saint is St Bega / St Begha ("the Apostle of Cumberland").

[brad]

thank you for all your information  I will follow this up thank you.

[brad]

yes  i have the marriage(the Original) but i would dearly love a photo or picture of the Chapel if that is possible. can anybody help me it would make my research for the Reunion complete.

[clearly]

Hi Brad
Sorry, the best I can do is 105 year old snaps of the present church, interior and exterior. I can't recall ever seeing an image of the old St Bega's Chapel.
Chester

[Jos, Whitehaven]

Hello Brad,

Similar to 'Clearly' I can't ever recall seeing a photograph of the old St Bega's either. It initially became a school building when the present St Mary's Church was completed. As I understand it the St Bega's you are interested was located where the car park is now situated.

One way of getting an image of this chapel could be to get a copy of the O.S. map from the 1860s. A second way might be for you to make a direct  enquiry to the parsh and ask if they have an old photograph (link to the parish website given below).

In the meantime, a modern photograph of the interior of St Mary's, Cleator is attached (taken December 2010). There are also some additonal photographs and a little of the parish history on the website.

Link to St Mary's, Cleator & St Joseph's, Frizington website:
http://www.stmarysandstjosephs.org.uk/St._Marys

[brad]

thank you so much for your reply.Brad.

[Geoff-E]

The position of St Bega's is shown on the 1863-78 1:2500 map here http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html?coords=302021,514082