St Michael's Church, Aigburth Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids St Michael's Church, Aigburth
St Michael-in-the-Hamlet Church, Aigburth
St Michael's Church, Aigburth
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OS grid reference	SJ 369,870
Location	St Michael's Hamlet, Liverpool
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Churchmanship	Open Evangelical
Website	St Michael in the Hamlet
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	St Michael
Consecrated	21 June 1815
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	28 June 1952
Architect(s)	Thomas Rickman W. & G. Audsley
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	December 1813
Completed	1900
Construction cost	£7,865
Specifications
Materials	Brick with cast iron components Slate roof
Administration
Parish	St. Michael-in-the-Hamlet with St. Andrew, Toxteth Park
Deanery	Toxteth and Wavertree
Archdeaconry	Liverpool
Diocese	Liverpool
Province	York

St Michael's Church, also known as St Michael-in-the-Hamlet Church, is a historic church in St Michael's Hamlet, Liverpool, England. It is a very important building, listed as a Grade I building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it's considered one of the most important historic buildings in the country.

What makes St Michael's Church special is its use of cast iron. The church has a lot of cast iron in its structure. Experts say it's one of the earliest and most complete examples of using industrial materials in a large building. Today, it is still an active Anglican parish church. It is part of the diocese of Liverpool.

Building the Church: A Unique History
Changes Over Time: Restorations and Extensions
What the Church Looks Like: Structure and Design
- Exterior Features
- Inside the Church
Inside the Church: Fittings and Furnishings
Gallery
See also

Building the Church: A Unique History

The church was built between 1813 and 1815. It was first a "chapel of ease" for St Mary's Church, Walton. This means it was a smaller church built to serve people who lived far from the main parish church.

Who Built St Michael's Church?

The church was built by John Cragg. He owned the Mersey Iron Foundry in Liverpool. Cragg bought the land from the Earl of Sefton. He paid for the church himself, which cost £7,865.

John Cragg was very interested in new ways to use cast iron. He had already started building St George's Church, Everton, using cast iron there. He wanted to use even more of it in St Michael's.

How Cast Iron Was Used

In St Michael's, cast iron was used for the walls and the tall, pointed decorations called pinnacles. The cast iron in the walls formed a strong skeleton. The bottom part of this skeleton was filled with slate, and the rest was filled with brick. The brick was then covered with a smooth plaster called stucco.

Inside the church, cast iron was used for the columns that hold up the roof. It was also used for the decorative patterns in the ceiling, called tracery, and for other decorative shapes, or mouldings.

Working with the Architect

Cragg worked with the architect Thomas Rickman on the design of both St Michael's and St George's churches. The church was officially opened and blessed by the Bishop of Chester on June 21, 1815.

Changes Over Time: Restorations and Extensions

By the late 1860s, the church building was in poor condition. It was so bad that people thought it might need to be torn down.

Saving the Church: Victorian Restoration

Luckily, one of the church leaders, Colonel Thomas Wilson, organized a big repair project. This was called a Victorian restoration. The architects for this work were W. and G. Audsley.

During this restoration, the old box pews (enclosed seats) were removed. They were replaced with benches, creating a main aisle in the middle and two side aisles. The floor was also replaced, and a new heating system was put in.

Becoming a Parish and Getting Bigger

More improvements were made in the years that followed. In July 1898, St Michael's became its own parish, meaning it had its own area and congregation. By this time, the church was not big enough for all the people who wanted to attend.

In 1897, permission was given to make the church larger. The north wall was moved further out, making the church wider. A new entrance porch was built. The old porch became a vestry, which is a room where clergy prepare for services. The way to reach the upper gallery was also changed. This expansion cost £2,950, which was raised by the church members.

Modern Updates

In 1902, the organ was moved from the back of the church to a spot near the front. After the First World War, money collected for the church's 100th birthday was used for other improvements. This included redecorating the inside, adding a clock to the tower, and putting in a special memorial window in the porch.

In 1957, a small chapel called the Jubilee Chapel was created. This was to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Mothers' Union, a Christian organization. Another renovation happened in 1984. The old pipe organ was replaced with a new electronic organ because it had been damaged by water. Some parts of the sanctuary (the area around the altar) were changed, and new stained glass was put in the east window. The gallery was turned into a choir vestry with a glass screen. This work cost £8,000.

What the Church Looks Like: Structure and Design

The church is built mainly from brick, but it has many parts made of cast iron. These include the decorative walls (called parapets), the castle-like tops (called battlements), and the tall pinnacles. The roofs are made of slate slabs set in a cast-iron frame.

Exterior Features

The lower part of the outside walls is covered with slate panels. These panels are finished with iron. Originally, they were sanded and painted to look like a type of stone called Woolton sandstone.

The church's layout includes a main area called a nave with a clerestory (an upper level with windows). It has aisles on the north and south sides. The north aisle is wider. There's a tower at the west end and a short chancel (the area around the altar) with a vestry to the north and a chapel to the south.

The windows in the aisles, clerestory, and tower have three lights (sections) and Perpendicular style patterns. The tower also has pairs of three-light bell-openings, strong corner supports called buttresses, and a decorative, castle-like top with pinnacles.

Inside the Church

Inside, there is a series of six arches supported by cast iron columns. The windows themselves are also made from cast iron. An organ is located in the east part of the north aisle. There is also an upper gallery at the west end of the church.

Inside the Church: Fittings and Furnishings

The stained glass in the main east window is in an early Gothic Revival style. The east window in the chapel was made in 1916 by the company Shrigley and Hunt.

In the porch, there is a special memorial window for the First World War. This window has glass designed by H. Gustave Hiller. The font, used for baptisms, is made of marble. Inside the church, there is also a marble plaque remembering the famous astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks, who was born nearby.