St Andrew's Church, Bebington facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Andrew's Church, Bebington
St Andrew's Church, Bebington, from the southeast
53°20′53″N 3°00′12″W / 53.3480°N 3.0034°W / 53.3480; -3.0034
OS grid reference	SJ 333 839
Location	Bebington, Wirral, Merseyside
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Churchmanship	Conservative evangelical
Website	St Andrew, Bebington
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	Saint Andrew
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	27 December 1962
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic
Completed	1847
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone
Administration
Parish	Bebington
Deanery	Wirral North
Archdeaconry	Chester
Diocese	Chester
Province	York

St Andrew's Church is a very old and beautiful church located in Bebington, a town on the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England. It's considered a really important building, so it's listed as a Grade I building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it's a historic place that needs to be protected. An expert on old buildings, Raymond Richards, even said it's the best old parish church in the whole Wirral area!

Today, St Andrew's is still an active Anglican parish church. It's part of the diocese of Chester, which is a larger church area.

The Church's Long History

A church made from local Storeton sandstone was already standing here even before the Norman Conquest in 1066. You can still see some of these very old stones in the south wall of the church today. The Domesday Book, a famous survey from 1086, even mentioned a priest living in Bebington.

The original Saxon church was later replaced by a Norman church. Building the church tower began around the year 1300 and took about 50 years to finish. In the 1300s, the church was changed quite a bit. The south aisle (a side part of the church) was made wider, and a three-section chancel (the area around the altar) was built.

In the 1500s, more rebuilding started at the east end of the church. This part was built in a style called Perpendicular Gothic, which has tall, thin windows and lots of vertical lines. The chancel and chapels (smaller rooms for prayer) were built, but the work stopped because of the English Reformation. This was a big change in England when the church moved away from the Pope.

In 1847, the church was updated again. The north arcade (a row of arches) was built to look like the older Norman style. More recently, the church has been made more modern. For example, the rood screen (a screen separating the chancel from the nave) was moved, and the choir stalls were taken out. They also added a kitchen, toilets, and made a crèche (a nursery) and meeting room in the tower.

Looking at the Church's Design

Outside the Church

St Andrew's Church is built from sandstone. It has a main area called the nave with four sections, which gets wider towards the east. There are also side sections called aisles to the north and south. The chancel has three sections with chapels on its north and south sides. The church also has a tower that sticks out from its southwest corner.

You can see different building styles. The chancel and chapels are in the Perpendicular style, while the nave is mostly in an older style called Decorated Gothic. Part of the south arcade is from the original Norman church, and the north arcade was built to copy it.

The tower has strong buttresses (supports) on its sides. On the north side, there's a rectangular stair turret (a small tower). The west side has a window with two lights, and higher up, there's a lancet window (a tall, narrow window). The openings for the bells have louvred slats. At the very top, there's a pointed roof called a splay spire with small windows called lucarnes.

From the masons' marks (symbols left by the builders), we know the lower parts of the tower were built in the early 1300s. The "ringing loft" (where the bells are rung) was built in the middle of that century. The outside door to the tower was blocked up in the 1700s but was reopened in 1847. The tower itself had to be rebuilt in 1805 after lightning struck it. The last major work on the church was done in 1905.

Inside the Church

The altar (the table where communion is held) is a very important part of the church. It was made in 1911 and designed by C. E. Deacon, with carvings by Harry Hems. They also created the screens in 1898 and 1908. The reredos (a screen or decoration behind the altar) was made in 1951 by Bernard A. Miller.

The church has special seats called stalls. Three of these seats have misericords, which are small ledges that allowed monks to lean during long services. These misericords show carvings of a dolphin, a bearded face, and a pelican. Four of the stalls have decorative carvings at their ends called poppy-heads.

The font (a basin for baptisms) is round, and its exact age isn't known. The beautiful stained glass in the east window was designed by T. F. Wilford in 1953. The stained glass in the north transept (a part of the church that crosses the main body) was made by William Warrington in 1859. On the south side, there are two windows designed by Henry Holiday for Powell's, one from 1881 and another from 1886.

The church also has a parish chest from the early 1500s. This chest was used to keep important documents safe. The church's parish registers (records of births, marriages, and deaths) start from 1558, and the churchwardens' accounts (records of church money) begin in 1774.

There is a ring of eight bells in the tower. All of them were made at the famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Five of the bells were cast in 1845 by Charles and George Mears, and the other three were made in 1907 by Mears and Stainbank. The church also has a two-manual organ (an organ with two keyboards) made by Henry Willis & Sons. This organ replaced an older one from 1885.

Things to See Outside

In the churchyard, there's an old sundial made of sandstone. It might be from 1764. It has a shaped pillar with an octagonal top, and on top of that is a brass plate with a gnomon (the part that casts a shadow). This sundial is also a listed building, at Grade II.

The churchyard is also a special place because it contains the war graves of nineteen service personnel. Four of these are from World War I, and fifteen are from World War II.

What Happens at the Church Today

St Andrew's Church still holds traditional Anglican services on Sundays. They also organize various events during the week and support different groups in the community.

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in Merseyside
• Grade I listed churches in Merseyside
• Listed buildings in Bebington