St George's Church, Chorley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St George's Church, Chorley |
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St George's Church, Chorley, from the north
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| OS grid reference | SD 585,175 |
| Location | St George's Street, Chorley, Lancashire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Churchmanship | Traditional Anglican |
| Website | St Georges, Chorley |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Dedication | Saint George |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 21 December 1966 |
| Architect(s) | Thomas Rickman |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival (Early English) |
| Groundbreaking | 1822 |
| Completed | 1825 |
| Construction cost | £12,387 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Stone, slate roof |
St George's Church is a beautiful old church located on St George's Street in Chorley, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church, meaning it's a local church for the community, and is part of the Church of England in the Blackburn area.
This church is very special because it's listed as a Grade II* building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it's a really important historic building that needs to be protected. St George's was also one of the "Commissioners' churches." These were churches built in the 1800s with money from a special government fund to help create more places of worship.
Contents
History of St George's Church
The church was built between 1822 and 1825. It was designed by a famous architect named Thomas Rickman. The Church Building Commission gave a large amount of money, £12,387, to help build it. This amount would be worth a lot more money today!
When it was first built, St George's was a "chapel of ease." This meant it was a smaller church that helped the main church, St Laurence, serve the growing population. In 1856, St George's became its own separate parish. Over time, three more parishes were created from its original area: St Peter, St James (in 1879), and All Saints (in the 1950s).
Church Design and Features
Outside the Church
St George's Church is made from smooth, cut stone called ashlar, and its roof is covered with slate. It is built in the Early English Gothic style, which is a type of Gothic Revival architecture. This style often features tall, narrow windows and pointed arches.
The church has a main hall (called a nave) and a chancel (the area near the altar) that are connected. It also has side sections called aisles and a raised part with windows called a clerestory. At the west end, there's a tall tower.
The tower has four main levels and strong corner supports called buttresses. These supports rise up to pointed decorations called pinnacles. On the west side of the tower, there's a doorway with a fancy pointed arch above it. Above this, there's a tall, narrow window called a lancet window. The third level of the tower has clock faces on three sides. The very top level has decorative arches with more lancet windows. The top edge of the tower looks like a castle wall, which is called embattled.
The main part of the church (nave and aisles) is divided into seven sections, or bays. Each bay of the aisles has two lancet windows, separated by buttresses that also rise to pinnacles. The clerestory, the upper part of the nave, also has pairs of lancet windows in each bay. The large window at the east end of the church has five stepped lancet windows.
Inside the Church
Inside St George's, the main hall has arches supported by eight thin columns called piers. There are also balconies, or galleries, on three sides of the church. These galleries are held up by cast iron pillars and have decorative patterns on their fronts. The ceiling is flat and is also supported by cast iron beams that look like traditional hammerbeams.
At the west end of the north aisle, there's a special area for baptisms called a baptistry. It holds a beautiful white marble baptismal font, which is a bowl for holy water. This font is shaped like an angel holding a shell-shaped bowl.
The pulpit, where sermons are given, is shaped like an octagon and was made by Thomas Rawcliffe from Chorley. The eagle lectern, a stand for reading scriptures, was put there to remember the church's first vicar (a type of priest). The colorful stained glass in the east window also honors the first vicar and was made in 1875. Other windows in the chancel have stained glass from 1877, 1914, and 1920. The glass in the west window, made by Stephen Adam, shows the Resurrection (Jesus coming back to life).
The large hanging lights, called chandeliers, were added in 1977. They used to be in another church, St Mary's Church, Ulverston. The clock in the tower was installed in 1920.
The church has a large organ with three keyboards, built around 1870 by Kirtland and Jardine. It was later updated in 1934. The bells in the tower are part of an Ellacombe apparatus Chime. They were made by Mears and Stainbank at the famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry and installed in 1919.
See also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Lancashire
- List of Commissioners' churches in Northeast and Northwest England
- Listed buildings in Chorley
