Coordinates: 53°40′20.91360″N 2°37′52.59″W / 53.6724760000°N 2.6312750°W / 53.6724760000; -2.6312750 The Preston England Temple is the 52nd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
The LDS Church took root in Preston, Lancashire, when the first Mormon missionaries arrived in 1837. Because of its place in LDS Church history and the growth of membership in Preston, church president Gordon B. Hinckley announced the area would be the site for England's second temple (the first was in Surrey, near London). The Preston England Temple is located in the town of Chorley, 10 miles (16 km) south of Preston, in Lancashire. It is the centrepiece of a 15-acre (6 hectare) complex that includes a stake centre, a missionary training centre, a family history facility, a distribution centre, temple patron housing, temple missionary accommodations and a grounds building. The temple itself has a modern, single-spire design and an exterior finish of Olympia white granite from Sardinia. The white granite exterior and zinc roof have caused it to be described as reminiscent of England's old churches.
Hinckley dedicated the Preston England Temple on June 7, 1998. The temple has four ordinance rooms and four sealing rooms, and is the largest Latter-day Saint temple in Europe, at 69,630 square feet (6,470 m²). The older London England Temple is smaller, at 46,174 square feet (4,290 m²) and is the second-largest temple in Europe, followed by the Madrid Spain Temple at 45,800 square feet (4,250 m2).
The temple serves Latter-day Saints from the Midlands and northern parts of England, the whole of Scotland, the Isle of Man and the island of Ireland.
Famous quotes containing the words england and/or temple:
“He was inordinately proud of England and he abused her incessantly.”
—H.G. (Herbert George)
“This flea is you and I, and this
Our mariage bed, and mariage temple is;
Though parents grudge, and you, w’are met,
And cloystered in these living walls of Jet.”
—John Donne (1572–1631)