The open house and dedication dates for the new Preston England Temple, now nearing completion, have been announced by the First Presidency.
England's second temple will open to the public for tours on May 16 and remain open until May 30. The temple will be open for tours Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Mondays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.The temple will be dedicated June 7-10 with 15 dedicatory sessions to accommodate members of the temple district. The temple district includes 21 stakes in mid- and northern England, Scotland, Ireland, and northern Wales.
Located in Chorley, a suburb of Preston, the temple is the Church's 52nd. England's first temple, the London Temple, is located in Lingfield and was dedicated in 1958.
The Preston temple was announced in 1992 by President Gordon B. Hinckley, then first counselor in the First Presidency, during the rededication of the London Temple. The Preston temple is of white granite and features a gold-leafed statue of the Angel Moroni atop its single spire. Within the temple will be 65,000 square feet of floor space that will include four ordinance rooms, four sealing rooms and a baptistry. Additional buildings at the temple site include a stake center, a missionary training center, a distribution center and patron and missionary housing.
