Immanuel Church, Feniscowles facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Immanuel Church, Feniscowles
Immanuel Church, Feniscowles, from the southwest
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OS grid reference	SD 644 257
Location	Feniscowles, Blackburn, Lancashire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Immanuel, Feniscowles
History
Status	Parish church
Dedicated	10 October 1836
Consecrated	10 October 1836
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	27 September 1984
Architect(s)	J. W. Whittaker (?)
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1835
Completed	1836
Specifications
Materials	Gritstone, slate roof
Administration
Parish	Immanuel, Feniscowles
Deanery	Blackburn with Darwen
Archdeaconry	Blackburn
Diocese	Blackburn

Immanuel Church is a special old building located in Feniscowles, a village near Blackburn in Lancashire, England. It is an active church that belongs to the Anglican faith, which is part of the Church of England. This church is also recognized as a Grade II listed building, meaning it is an important historical site that needs to be protected.

History of Immanuel Church

Immanuel Church was built between 1835 and 1836. It cost about £1,000 to build back then. This amount would be worth a lot more money today!

Who Designed the Church?

It is not completely clear who designed the church. Some experts think it was John William Whittaker, who was the Vicar of Blackburn. Others believe it was his cousin, Edmund Sharpe, an architect from Lancaster. Whittaker definitely made the first plans for the church. However, we are not sure if Sharpe changed or replaced these plans.

Building and Changes Over Time

The first stone for the church was laid on February 5, 1835. A man named William Feilden, who gave the land for the church, laid the stone. He also gave £100 towards building it. The church was officially opened on October 10, 1836.

Later, in 1931–32, the church was updated by a company called Austin and Paley. They were the people who took over Edmund Sharpe's architectural business. During this update, some old wooden seats were taken out. A pulpit (a raised stand for the speaker) and a screen were added near the front of the church. The lower parts of the walls were covered with wood panels, and new floors were put in.

Architecture of Immanuel Church

Immanuel Church is built using a type of stone called gritstone. Its roof is made of slate. The church has a main hall called a nave and a smaller area at the front called a chancel. These two parts are joined together. There is also a small entrance porch on the southwest side and a tower with a pointed top, called a spire, at the west end.

Outside the Church

The church tower is not very tall and has two levels. It has strong supports called buttresses at its corners. There is a window with two sections on the west side of the tower. It also has rectangular openings with louvres (slanted slats) for the bells.

The spire sits on top of the tower and has small windows called lucarnes. Originally, there were eight pointed decorations called pinnacles on the spire. However, these had to be removed because they were wearing away. The windows along the sides of the church are large and have straight tops. They feature a style of stone decoration called Perpendicular Gothic tracery. The large window at the very front (east end) has a different style of stone decoration called Decorated Gothic tracery.

Inside the Church

Inside Immanuel Church, there is a balcony at the west end. This balcony is supported by thin iron columns. The beautiful colored glass in the east window was made in 1861. It might have been created by a company called Hardman & Co..

On the north side of the church, some windows were made in the early 1900s by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. On the south side, there are windows from 1907 by Curtis, Ward and Hughes.

The church has a large organ with two manuals (keyboards). It is located in the west balcony. This organ was built in 1949 by Jardine and Company. They reused some pipes from an older organ that was built in 1899.

There is also a very old church bell inside. It is an eighteenth-century bell from Java, an island in Indonesia. It has a Javanese writing on it that includes a date. This bell originally came from a place called Gresik in East Java. A member of the Feilden family, who served in Egypt, India, and Java during the Napoleonic Wars, gave it to the church.

Images for kids

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  Immanuel Church, Feniscowles, from the southwest