St Mary's Church, Knowsley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Mary's Church, Knowsley |
|
|---|---|
St Mary's Church, Knowsley, from the southwest
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| OS grid reference | SJ 435,958 |
| Location | Knowsley, Merseyside |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | St Mary, Knowsley |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Consecrated | 6 June 1844 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 28 January 1971 |
| Architect(s) | Edmund Sharpe, Edward Paley< Paley and Austin Paley, Austin and Paley |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1843 |
| Completed | 1893 |
| Administration | |
| Parish | St Mary, Knowsley |
| Deanery | Huyton |
| Archdeaconry | Liverpool |
| Diocese | Liverpool |
| Province | York |
St Mary's Church is a beautiful old church located in Knowsley Village, Merseyside, England. It's a very important building, listed as a Grade II* building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it's a special historic place that needs to be protected. St Mary's is an active Anglican parish church, serving the local community. Experts describe the church as "largish" but with a "cozy" feeling inside.
Contents
History of St Mary's Church
The church was built between 1843 and 1844. It was designed by an architect named Edmund Sharpe for the 13th Earl of Derby. Building the church cost about £20,000 at that time. On June 6, 1844, the church was officially opened and blessed by Bishop John Bird Sumner.
Over the years, more parts were added to the church. In 1860, transepts (the parts that stick out from the sides, making the church look like a cross) were added. These were designed by Edward Paley, who took over Edmund Sharpe's architectural business.
Later, in 1871–72, a special chapel was built to remember the 14th Earl of Derby. This chapel cost £3,000 and included a statue by Matthew Noble. In 1892–93, a new room for the clergy (called a vestry) and a new main window at the east end were built. An organ was put into the Derby chapel in 1913. More recently, in 1981–82, the church was updated inside. A new altar was placed in the main part of the church, and spaces for meetings were created in the tower.
Architecture of St Mary's Church
The church is built from sandstone with smooth stone details. Its roof is made of stone tiles. The style of the church is mostly Early English Gothic, which is a type of architecture from the 12th and 13th centuries.
Outside the Church
The church has a tall tower at the west end. It has a long main hall called a nave with walkways (called aisles) on both sides. Above the aisles, there's a row of windows called a clerestory that lets in light. There's also a porch on the north side. The transepts stick out on the north and south sides. The main altar area is called the chancel, and it has a chapel on the north side (which used to be the Derby chapel) and a vestry on the south.
The tower has three levels. The bottom level has a doorway and tall, narrow windows called lancet windows. The middle level also has pointed-arch windows. The top level has openings for bells, decorated with patterns called quatrefoil tracery. The tower is topped with a pointed roof called a broach spire, which has small windows called lucarnes.
The south side of the church has pairs of windows in each section. The transepts have strong supports called buttresses and decorative stone edges. Their north and south windows are in a more detailed style called Decorated Gothic. The chancel also has decorative stone edges. Its large east window has five sections with Perpendicular Gothic patterns. The north chapel is also in the Decorated style and has a large four-section window. Along the north side, there are three-section windows and a decorative band of quatrefoils.
Inside the Church
Inside the nave, the arches are supported by columns that look like four-leaf clovers, with carved tops. The arch leading to the chancel has carvings of Queen Victoria and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The floor of the nave has 19th-century patterned tiles, and the chapel has special encaustic tiles.
You can see an old, beautifully carved bench from Knowsley Hall inside the church, which dates back to 1646. There are also royal arms from 1567. The decorative screen behind the altar, called a reredos, was designed in 1866. In the Derby chapel, there's a statue of the 14th Earl of Derby lying down, made from alabaster by Matthew Noble. Along the chancel walls, there are memorial mosaics from the 1910s and 1920s.
The eight-sided baptismal font was made in 1890 by Stubbs and Sons of Liverpool. The pulpit (where sermons are given) is also many-sided and dates from around 1946. The church has beautiful stained glass windows. The east window from 1893 was made by Shrigley and Hunt. Each transept has a window by Lavers and Barraud, and a window in the south wall of the chancel from 1923 was made by Powell and Sons. The large organ, which has three keyboards, was built in 1913 by Rushworth and Dreaper of Liverpool.
External Features
The churchyard (the area around the church) is also a special place. It contains the graves of soldiers who died in World War I and World War II. These are known as war graves.
See also
- Listed buildings in Knowsley, Merseyside
- List of architectural works by Edmund Sharpe
- List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin
