St George's Church, Millom facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St George's Church
St George's Church, Millom, from the northeast
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OS grid reference	SD 172,800
Location	Millom, Cumbria
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St George, Millom
History
Status	Parish church
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	8 September 1967
Architect(s)	Paley and Austin
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1874
Completed	1877
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone, slate roofs
Administration
Parish	Millom
Deanery	Furness
Archdeaconry	Westmorland and Furness
Diocese	Carlisle
Province	York

St George's Church is located in the town of Millom, which is in Cumbria, England. It is an active Anglican parish church, meaning it serves the local community. The church is part of the Diocese of Carlisle and works closely with other nearby churches like St Anne, Thwaites, Holy Trinity, Millom, and St Luke, Haverigg. St George's Church is a very important building. It is officially recognized as a Grade II listed building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it is a special historic building protected by law. It stands out as a well-known landmark in Millom.

History of St George's Church

St George's Church was built between 1874 and 1877. It was needed because the town of Millom was growing quickly. The church was designed by famous architects named Paley and Austin from Lancaster. Building the church cost about £12,000 at the time. A large part of this money, £7,186, was given by the Millom Ironworks. The land for the church was a gift from the Earl of Lonsdale.

Exploring the Church's Design

Outside the Church

St George's Church is built from red sandstone with smooth stone details. Its roofs are made of slate. The church has a unique, uneven shape. It includes a long main hall called a nave with an extra section on the north side called an aisle. There is a tall tower in the middle with a transept (a part that sticks out) to the north. On the south side, there is a vestry, which is a room used by the clergy. The church also has a chancel, which is the area around the altar.

The nave and aisle have windows with two or three sections. At the front of the church, the nave has a large window with five sections. All the windows have decorative stone patterns called tracery, typical of the Geometrical style. The tower has strong corner supports called buttresses and a small stair turret. It has two-section windows on the south side and pairs of two-section openings for bells. The top of the tower has a decorative wall with battlements and pointed decorations called pinnacles. An eight-sided spire with small windows sits on top of the tower. The chancel has a large five-section window at the east end and three-section windows on its sides. It has a decorative wall at the top and a cross on its gable (the triangular part of the wall).

Inside the Church

Most of the church's interior features were designed by Paley and Austin. The only exception is the lectern, which is a stand for reading. The large window at the east end and a window on the north side of the chancel were made by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. The north window is dated 1911. Another window on the south side, from 1906, was made by Seward and Company.

On the north side of the church, there is a special window that remembers Norman Nicholson. He was a local poet who passed away in 1987. This memorial window was designed by Christine Boyce and put in place in 2000. It shows pictures of a bee orchid, a bloody cranesbill, and Halley's Comet. It also includes famous quotes from Nicholson's poems.

The church's first organ was built around 1877 by Alfred Kirkland. In 1972, it was replaced with a different organ by Keates, which was moved from Morley. The church also has a set of six bells. All of them were made by John Warner & Sons. The oldest bell is from 1876, and the other five were cast in 1921.

Outside the Church Grounds

Outside St George's Church, there is a memorial dedicated to the Second Boer War. This memorial dates back to 1905. It is a Celtic-style cross on a tall stone shaft, surrounded by a square area. The memorial has carvings of a vine and a dragon eating its own tail. This memorial is also a Grade II listed building, just like the church itself.

See also

• List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin