On June 15, 1857 the foundation stone of the new church was laid by the Most Reverend Dr Alex Goss, RC Bishop of Liverpool.
Beneath the stone, a compartment had been fashioned and in it were placed medals, small coins and a paper statement of details of the occasion, written in Latin.
On August 18, 1858, the same bishop solemnly opened the church; he was accompanied by Bishop Roskell of Nottingham, whose parents came from Garstang and Bishop Turner of Salford, who had been baptised at Hill Chapel, Goosnargh.
We owe most of the information we have relating to events of the time to Rev. Fr Hickey, whose unpublished journal describes them in detail.
This remarkable, industrious and generous man had already spent 33 years of his ministry in Garstang when he realized the necessity to build a new church to provide for the spiritual needs of the increasing Catholic population.
The old church was far too small and the owner, Mr Keppell, was unwilling to allow any realistic expansion on his land.
Fr Hickey tried, in vain, to persuade him. After much negotiating with Mr William Bashall of Farington Lodge, Preston, he managed to obtain land in Bonds at a very reasonable price of £300.0s.0d for one and a half acres.
Purchase of the land, previously owned by the Duke of Hamilton, was facilitated by intervention from mutual friends of Bishop Goss and Mr Bashall, whose steward, Mr Robert Ibison of Shepherd's Farm, also helped.
Fr Hickey not only organised the whole process of building church and school but had previously provided out of his own pocket £270 towards the cost of the project.
There were other generous donors, legacies and the contributions of congregation members to meet the total cost of £2811.11s 0d, plus £605.0s.0d for the presbytery.
The school cost of £736.0s.0d was met from grants applied for, legacies and voluntary effort. Following completion of church and school by 1859, there remained a total debt of £1,360. By 1861 this reduced to £1,000 and before Fr Hickey's death, he had managed to erase the church debt.
The architect was Mr Edward G. Paley of Lancaster, who was also responsible for the design of other local churches, including St Peter's Cathedral, Lancaster, Barnacre, Bilsborrow, Dolphinholme, Pilling, Scorton and Winmarleigh. He was an exponent of the revived Gothic style.
Stone was carted from a quarry two miles away in Barnacre, largely by volunteers, Catholic and non-Catholic.
The original suggestion by the mason to take stone from his own quarry at Lancaster Moor would have proved more expensive.
However, the architect wisely suggested the use of this contrasting stone for items such as the plinth, buttress parts and coigns, the effect still to be seen. No stones are recorded to have been taken from Greenhalgh Castle!
Remarkably, the cemetery and its defining wall preceded the building of the church.
Presumably the need for a burial site had a higher priority but it is noteworthy that a Mr Amroyding, a mason of Scorton, undertook the work at a very reasonable price. Much voluntary labour was used for less skilled jobs during the whole construction.
With an eye to cost, Fr Hickey considered a shorter version of the planned tower. He was dissuaded by Mr Brockholes of Claughton, who gave him the assurance that, should it be done, he would provide any necessary financial assistance.
The building continued. The church bell was an early addition. From Murphys of Dublin, it weighs 10.5 cwt and cost £105.10s 6d.
Originally, the church had a beautiful Jacobean oak pulpit (now situated in St Cuthbert's, Wigton).
It was replaced in 1894 by one of white marble, donated by Mrs Mary O'Donnell and Father Edward Swarbrick from Nateby, for some years parish priest at Great Eccleston and Clifton Hill.
The altar rails were also of wood formerly; these were replaced by marble rails and brass gates, the gift of Fr James Henessy in 1898.
A holy water stoup, dated 1639, was fashioned from the stone of Turner's Farm, Barnacre. It has the initials T/RT upon it, representing a member of the Turner family.
This family farmed here for over 300, perhaps 500 years. Lying close to Greenhalgh Castle, the temptation to use some of the stone for extending the farm was not resisted.
The magnificent stained glass window behind the altar was the gift of John Dalton of Thurnham and Major Stapleton, the firm friend of Fr Hickey.
The two stained glass windows for the Lady Altar were given by Miss Sarah Weights, a dressmaker in Garstang for many years.
A painting of the Crucifixion is by James Lonsdale (1801), based on an original by Van Dyke in Ghent, Belgium. It originally hung behind the altar of the Garstang chapel in Back Lane and is mentioned by Fr Hickey in his inventory of 1855.
It is interesting to look for the holes in the pillars where the original oil lamps were fixed and to imagine the improved illumination when they were replaced by gas before World War One and electricity prior to World War Two.
Central heating, introduced reluctantly by Fr Hennessy in 1888, must have felt quite luxurious. It cost £87.9s.0d and has been updated on at least four occasions.
The Stations of the Cross were presented to Fr Hennessy by his parishioners in a former parish in Liverpool, in gratitude for his brave efforts during the cholera epidemic of 1866.
At the turn of the century, major internal structural changes were effected so as to provide a small chapel, a narthex and an area for meetings and socializing. Prior to this, the fine organ had been rebuilt, followed by the addition of a second consol close to the congregation, quite an unusual feature.
It would be difficult for any priest today to be as physically generous as Fr Hickey. His £270 would need to be something like a thousand times more; and yet the tradition of true generosity has continued throughout 150 years.
Since Fr Hickey there have been nine parish priests, the current one being Father David Elder.
They have given to the parish of SS Mary and Michael their time, industry, devotion and their sacrifice of a life which could have been so much more lucrative in secular work.
St Peter reminds us of the "living stones" of the church: today it is those stones to which priestly efforts need to be directed. In Garstang it is happening.
*A new and updated version of the book by parishioner Bill Bamber "A History of Saints Mary and Michael" has recently been produced and is available at a price of £5.