Ballaugh locator map

Church dedicated to St Mary or Our Lady
The derivation of Ballaugh is possibly from Bal-ny-laghney 'Homestead of the Curragh' (Wetland) (as in Kneen) or, more probably, Bal-laff 'The place of Our Lady'.

See Parish Index page for description, links to 19th century directories etc.

Ballaugh, Old Church - St Mary

Ballaugh, Old Church - St Mary

An old church to which Bishop Wilson added a front in 1717, in a simple and strange Baroque style.[JB]
In 1717 the church was lengthened by 21 feet and a gable topped by a bellcote added to the west end. Rear and side galleries were erected between 1757 and 1777 by Rector James Wilks reached by an outer double stairwell on either side of the porch. Fell into decay following building of new church (on a different site) but rescued by Rev T.Howard who took down the galleries and chancel extension, and reroofed the church in 1849.
Further restoration took place in 1877 and in 1955 since when it has been regularly used for services.

Grid Reference SC341957

 

Famous leaning pillars date from 18th century

Leaning pillars

   

Guide bookD Craine The Old Church of Saint Mary's de Ballaugh (a section was reprinted in IoM FHS vol 8 n3pp 84/6)

Ballaugh, New Church - St Mary

 Ballaugh, New Church - St Mary

By John Welch, 1832. Exterior an impressive attempt in local stone to produce Boston Stump reduced in scale.[JB] The old church was at a distance from the centre of population - Bishop Ward presided over the vestry meeting of April 1830 that decided to build a new, and larger, church nearer the village. Bishop Ward laid the foundation stone, at a site of his choice, a mere month later. The £1714 cost was split £580 on a parish assessment with the remainder from the money the Bishop had collected in England for church building.
A major restoration occurred in 1893.

Grid Reference SC345939

 

Guide bookGuide 'Ballaugh Parish Church' [nd]

B.Kneen Notable People, Places and Things connected with the Parish of Ballaugh Proc IoMNH&ASoc vol 2 #4 pp459/467


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Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor
HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2001