St Luke's Church, Farnworth facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Luke's Church, Farnworth
St Luke's Church, Farnworth, from the south
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OS grid reference	SJ 516,877
Location	Farnworth, Widnes, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Saint Luke, Farnworth
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	Saint Luke
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	30 May 1963
Architect(s)	Paley, Austin and Paley
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic
Specifications
Materials	Red sandstone, slate roof
Administration
Parish	Farnworth
Deanery	Widnes
Archdeaconry	Warrington
Diocese	Liverpool
Province	York

St Luke's Church, Farnworth, Widnes is a very old church in Farnworth, England. Farnworth used to be a separate village. Now, it's part of the town of Widnes in Cheshire. The church has been around since the 1100s. It holds many interesting historical items, like special family memorials called hatchments. St Luke's Church is a very important building. It is officially protected as a Grade II* listed building. This means it's a special historical place. It is still an active Anglican church today.

History of the Church

Farnworth is a really old village. It's about 2 kilometres north of the River Mersey. Long ago, it was part of Lancashire. Now, it's part of Widnes in Cheshire.

Around the year 1180, a small church was built here. It was called St Wilfrid's-on-the-Hill. This church was a "chapel of ease." This meant it was a smaller church for people who lived far from the main church in Prescot. Many nearby areas, like Bold and Cronton, used this chapel.

Originally, Farnworth was part of the Lichfield diocese. A diocese is an area managed by a bishop. In 1541, big changes happened in England. Monasteries were closed down. Chester Abbey became a cathedral. So, Farnworth became part of the Chester diocese. Later, in 1859, the church was renamed St Luke's. In 1880, it joined the Liverpool diocese.

Over hundreds of years, many people helped the church. One of the first was Yorfrid. He was the first Baron of Widnes. A baron was a powerful lord. Later, the Bold family, who lived nearby, became the main supporters of the church.

The church building has changed a lot over time.

• Around 1280–1300, a north aisle was added. An aisle is a side section of a church.
• Between 1360 and 1380, a south aisle was built. The church tower was also added around this time.
• In 1406, the Bold Chantry was built. A chantry was a special chapel where prayers were said for certain families.
• The east end of the church was made longer in 1431.
• In 1500, the Cuerdley chapel was added. Bishop William Smyth built it. This was so people from Cuerdley could attend church safely. At that time, the plague was in the area.

More changes happened in 1855. This was a "Victorian restoration." This means the church was repaired and updated in the style popular during Queen Victoria's time. The main part of the church, called the nave, was rebuilt. New roofs were added. Galleries were built inside, and the organ was moved. William Culshaw led this work.

The last big changes inside were in 1894–95. The galleries were removed. Plaster was taken off the walls. Two new rooms for the clergy, called vestries, were built. A new organ was also put in. The architects Paley, Austin and Paley did this work.

Church Architecture

Outside the Church

St Luke's Church is built from red sandstone. Its roof is made of slate. The church has a tower at the west end. It has a long main hall, called a nave, with a high section of windows called a clerestory. There are side aisles and a south transept. A transept is a part of the church that crosses the main body. There are also porches and a chancel. The chancel is the part of the church where the altar is.

The north aisle is mostly taken up by the Bold chapel. Two vestries are north of the chancel. The tower has strong corner supports called buttresses. It has a curvy window on the west side. Smaller windows are on all sides of the bell area. A clock face is on the south side. The tower, chancel, and transept have decorative tops called crenellated edges. The chancel also has pointy decorations called crocketted finials.

Inside the Church

The font is where baptisms take place. It is shaped like an octagon and made from local sandstone. Experts think it was made around 1280. It sits on a round base.

The altar is made from wood. This wood came from a rood screen that was taken down long ago. A rood screen was a decorative screen that separated the nave from the chancel. The screen under the tower arch is from the 1600s. A special pew (church bench) behind the pulpit is dated 1607.

On the walls of the nave, there are seven hatchments. These are special painted boards that show the family crests of the Bold family. They date from 1762 to 1840. The lectern (where readings are given) and the pulpit (where sermons are given) are from the 1894–95 restoration.

The beautiful stained glass in the north aisle was made in 1876 by Morris & Co.. It shows a scene from the Bible story of the fiery furnace. The glass in the east window is by Burlison and Grylls (1891). The glass in the west window and the transept's east window are by Shrigley and Hunt.

In the chancel, there are memorials to John and Edward Atherton. They died in the early 1800s. Their memorial shows a sarcophagus (a stone coffin) carved in relief (sticking out from the surface). On the south wall, there is a pink marble tablet. It remembers a scientist named Ferdinand Hurter, who died in 1898.

In the Bold chapel, the communion table is from the early 1600s. There's a fake bookcase in the chapel. It used to be a secret door from Bold Hall's library. The monuments in this chapel are very special. They are considered "one of the best collections in the county."

• The oldest monument is a rough statue of a knight. It's probably Richard Bold, from around 1602.
• Other memorials include one for another Richard Bold (died 1635) and his wife.
• There's a memorial for Richard Bold (died 1704). It has a decorative frame called a cartouche with small angel figures called cherubs.
• Peter Bold's memorial (died 1762) was made by B. Bromfield.
• Anna Maria Bold's memorial (died 1813) was made by G. Bullock.
• The memorial to Peter Patten Bold (1822) was made by Francis Chantry. It shows a woman kneeling by a stand.
• The memorial to Mary, Princess Sapieha (1795–1824) was made in Rome by Pietro Tenerani. She died from tuberculosis just two years after getting married.
• Behind the altar is a white statue for Alice Houghton (1852).

The church organ was built by Peter Concaher. It was repaired in 1986 by Reeves. The church also has a ring of six bells. They were made in 1956 by John Taylor and Company.

Outside the Church

In the churchyard, there is a sundial. It used to be in the garden of Bold Hall. It was given to the church after the New Hall was torn down in 1899. There is also a stone column about 9 feet (2.7 metres) tall. This is part of an old churchyard cross.

In the southeast corner of the churchyard, there is an old bridewell. A bridewell was a small jail or lock-up. This one was built in 1827 from sandstone with a slate roof. It is also a Grade II listed building.

The Legend of the Griffin

This is a fun story about a griffin. A griffin is a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. The legend says a griffin was scaring the people and animals in the area. The village blacksmith was brave enough to fight it. After a long battle, he won! He killed the griffin and became a hero. People called him "The Bold." This is said to be how the Bold family got their name. The griffin even appears on their family coat of arms and decorations.

See also

• Grade I and II* listed buildings in Halton (borough)
• Listed buildings in Widnes
• List of works by Paley, Austin and Paley
• List of extant works by Culshaw and Sumners