Preston Minster facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Preston Minster |
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| The Minster Church of St John the Evangelist | |
St John's Minster from the south
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 Preston Minster
Location in Preston city centre
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| 53°45′31″N 2°41′46″W / 53.7585°N 2.6962°W | |
| OS grid reference | SD 542 294 |
| Location | Church Street, Preston, Lancashire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Churchmanship | Charismatic Evangelical |
| Website | Preston Minster |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Dedication | Saint John the Evangelist |
| Dedicated | 1581 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 1855 |
| Architect(s) | E. H. Shellard |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Sandstone, slate roofs |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Preston St. John and St. George The Martyr |
| Deanery | Preston |
| Archdeaconry | Lancaster |
| Diocese | Blackburn |
| Province | York |
Preston Minster, also known as the Minster Church of St John the Evangelist, is a historic church in the heart of Preston, Lancashire, England. It has always been the main parish church for Preston. Today, it is an active Anglican church, meaning it belongs to the Church of England. It is a very important building, listed as a Grade II* listed building. This means it is considered a particularly important building of more than special interest.
Contents
History of Preston Minster
Preston Minster stands on a very old Christian site. The first church here was dedicated to Saint Wilfrid. We don't know exactly when it was built, but it was mentioned in documents as early as 1094. None of that first church remains today.
A new church was built, probably in the 1500s. In 1581, it was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The church was repaired over the years, but by 1770, it was in poor condition. Its dedication was changed again to Saint John the Evangelist. In 1811, the tower was partly taken down and a new one was built in 1814.
However, by 1853, the church was in such bad shape that almost the entire building had to be demolished. Only the very bottom part of the tower was kept.
A brand new church was then built between 1853 and 1855. It was designed by E. H. Shellard, and many people think it's his most important work. Over the next few years, other architects added features like a font (a basin for baptisms) and an reredos (a screen behind the altar).
In the 1960s, some galleries (balconies) inside the church were removed. The church was updated again in the early 2000s. In 2003, when Preston became a city, the church was given the special title of Minster Church of Saint John.
Architecture of the Church
Outside the Church
The church is built from sandstone blocks, called ashlar, and has slate roofs. It has a long main area called a nave with a high row of windows called a clerestory. On either side of the nave are aisles. There's also a chancel (the area around the altar), an organ-house, a chapel, and a vestry (a room for changing robes).
The church is built in the Gothic Revival style, which looks like medieval churches. The tall steeple (tower with a spire) has three levels. It has small windows, clock faces, and openings for bells. Above the bells are stone carvings called gargoyles and a decorative top edge called a parapet. The corners have tall, pointed decorations called pinnacles. These pinnacles are connected by flying buttresses to the tall, eight-sided spire. The spire has small windows, called lucarnes, near its base and higher up.
On the north side of the tower, there's a two-story entrance porch. It has a main doorway and a window above it. The sides of the church have buttresses (supports) that rise to pinnacles. Each section has large windows that let in lots of light. The east end of the church has a very large window with five sections.
Inside the Church
Inside, the main arcades (rows of arches) in the nave and chancel are supported by quatrefoil piers (columns shaped like four-leaf clovers). Both the nave and chancel have hammerbeam roofs, which are impressive wooden roofs. At the back of the church, there's a gallery (a balcony) supported by wooden pillars.
The altar was designed by Francis Roberts and includes part of an older pulpit (a raised stand for preaching). The east end of the north aisle is a special chapel for a military regiment. It's separated by iron screens decorated with red roses.
On the west wall, there's a large painting from 1956 called Sermon on the Mount by Hans Feibusch. In the baptistry (the area for baptisms), there's another painting from 2003 by George Melling.
The church also has beautiful stained-glass windows. One special window was designed by Brian Clarke in 1973–74. It's unique because it was one of the first times a special printing method was used on blown glass in the UK. It even shows a street scene from a Preston parade! Other windows were made by William Wailes and the firm Shrigley and Hunt.
The oldest memorial inside the church is a metal plate, called a brass, from 1623. There are also memorials to the Hoghton family and a tomb for Thomas Starkie Shuttleworth. Another monument shows the five Preston churches built during the time of Revd Roger Carus Wilson.
The church has a large organ with three keyboards, which has been rebuilt and repaired several times since 1864. The tower holds twelve bells. Eight of these bells were moved to Preston in 1997 from another church, and four more were added later. The original bells from Preston were moved to a church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States.
External Features
The gates leading into the churchyard are also very old and important. They were built around 1855 and were likely designed by Shellard, the same architect who designed the church. They are also listed as Grade II historic structures.
See also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Lancashire
- Listed buildings in Preston, Lancashire
- List of works by E. H. Shellard
Images for kids
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Former church of St John, demolished in 1853
