St Andrew's Church, Blackburn facts for kids

St Andrew's Church is located on Livesey Branch Road in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. It used to be an Anglican church, which means it belonged to the Church of England. The church was designed by a famous architect named E. G. Paley from Lancaster.

The first stone for the church was laid in December 1866. However, it wasn't officially ready for use until 1877. When it was first built, St Andrew's Church could seat 652 people. It cost about £6,000 at the time, which was a lot of money back then!

The church has a special shape called "cruciform," which means it looks like a cross from above. It has a main area called a nave, two side sections called transepts (north and south), and a chancel at the end with a roundish part called an apse. There's also a tower that was never fully finished, located between the south transept and the chancel.

Church Design and Features

The church has many interesting windows. Along the sides, you can see pairs of tall, narrow windows called lancet windows. The transepts have beautiful round windows known as rose windows. The windows at the front and back of the church have fancy stone patterns called "tracery," which are typical of the Decorated Gothic style.

Inside the church, the stained glass in the south wall of the chancel is very old and special. It was made by a company called Clayton and Bell around 1890. Stained glass windows often tell stories from the Bible or show important figures.

From Church to Care Home

St Andrew's Church was no longer used as a church starting from August 6, 2008. It was then decided in August 2009 that the building could be used for other community purposes.

In 2010, there were plans to turn the old church into a care home for older people. This care home would have 35 rooms. By 2014, the building was being renovated for this new purpose. It is now known as Andrews Court Care Home.

Even though the outside of the building mostly looks the same, there have been some changes. For example, the top parts of the doorways have been lowered. This was done to make space for new windows on the upper floor of the building.

See also

• List of ecclesiastical works by E. G. Paley