Unfinished Barcelona La Sagrada Familia church using stone quarried in Lancashire

A QUARRY in Lancashire is supplying Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia with stone to help complete the building.

Brinscall quarry in Withnell, near Chorley, was selected alongside other sites across the world to ship the stone to the basilica.

The sandstone needed by builders for the church was previously quarried at Montjuic near Barcelona until reserves there were exhausted.

Stone was sourced from demolished buildings until Brinscall and others were chosen to help with supplies, according to the quarry’s owners Armstrongs.

Armstrongs said the ongoing project was one which all of Chorley and the North West of England could be proud of.

“Without doubt this is the most historic and prestigious job any quarry in the UK is currently undertaking,” the company said in a statement.

Armstrongs added sandstone from the Brinscall quarry has been used for the Nativity and Passion facades on either side of the front of the church.

La Sagrada Familia was designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, who began working on the project in 1883. He became Architect Director the following year.

The church was between 15 and 25 per cent complete when Gaudi died in 1926. Work to finish it has continued with interruptions ever since.

Building work on the main features is set to finish in 2026, the 100-year anniversary of Gaudi’s death. Decorative parts of the building are due for completion by 2032.