St Peter-in-Chains Church

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A Roman Catholic church in Doncaster, St Peter-in-Chains, was dedicated in 1855. A new shrine was established in 1868 after Phyffers of London were commissioned to produce the new statue.

That church featured a remarkable tympanum over the main portal. Charles Hadfield's description of it, in his 1868 Historical Notes, gives a contemporary opinion within a few months of its erection: "The doorway is divided by a shaft of polished granite, which serves as a pedestal for the statue of Our Blessed Lady, carved alto relievo, having Our Lord and Saviour in her arms and on either side standing figures representing St Peter and St Charles Borromeo, patron saints of the church. The background of the design is relieved with drapery and the ensemble is very chaste and effective. It is cut in Roche Abbey stone. A nimbus or halo surrounds the principal figure on which is the following inscription: BENEDICTA ET VENERABILIS ES VIRGO MARIA QUAE SINE TACTU PUDORIS INVENTA ES MATER SALVATORIS."

The revival of devotion to Our Lady of Doncaster has been quiet and unobtrusive. The Marian year of 1954 gave impetus to the revival.

The Bishop of Leeds, the Right Reverend John Carmel Heenan, encouraged the devotion by composing a prayer in honour of our Lady of Doncaster, to which he attached an indulgence.