In 1794, during the French Revolution, the Jesuit College of St Omer had to flee France and was invited to Stonyhurst by Thomas Weld.

The school was re-established in Stonyhurst, and became a place of worship and education for the local Catholic community.

From Stonyhurst, Jesuits travelled to other local Catholic communities to say Mass and eventually built churches in those places such as in Preston, Skipton, St Helens and Richmond.

[4] On 23 June 1835, the church was consecrated by Bishop John Briggs, Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District.

[5][6] In 2019, the statue of Saint Mary, a replica of the Column of the Immaculate Conception in Rome, was returned to the college after a year-long renovation costing £80,000.