St Michael's Church, Middleton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Michael's Church, Middleton |
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| OS grid reference | SD 875,057 |
| Location | Townley Street, Middleton, Greater Manchester |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | St Michael, Middleton |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Dedication | Saint Michael |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II |
| Designated | 19 September 1969 |
| Architect(s) | Austin and Paley |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1901 |
| Completed | 1930 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Stone, tile roofs |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Tonge-cum-Alkrington |
| Deanery | Heywood and Middleton |
| Archdeaconry | Rochdale |
| Diocese | Manchester |
| Province | York |
St Michael's Church is a beautiful old church located on Townley Street in Middleton, Greater Manchester, England. It's an active Anglican church, which means it's part of the Church of England. It's also recognized as a Grade II listed building, meaning it's an important historical building that needs to be protected.
History of St Michael's Church
This church was built between 1901 and 1902. It replaced an older church that stood on the same spot since 1839. A brewer named J. W. Lees paid for the new church to be built.
The church was designed by a famous architecture firm from Lancaster called Austin and Paley. At first, only the east end and the first part of the main church area, called the nave, were built. The rest of the nave was finished in 1911. The tall tower was added later, between 1926 and 1931.
Church Design and Features
St Michael's Church is made from stone and has a roof covered with tiles. Its style is called Perpendicular Gothic, which is a type of old English church design.
The church has a main area (the nave) with four sections and windows high up (a clerestory). It also has side paths (north and south aisles). There's a special area for the altar (the chancel) with a small side chapel, a room for the clergy (the vestry), and a place for the organ.
The tall tower stands almost by itself next to the north aisle. It has four main levels, with decorative bands separating them. The tower also has strong supports called buttresses and a round staircase tower. You can see a doorway with a large window above it, clock faces, and openings for bells. The very top of the tower has a castellated edge, which looks like the top of a castle wall.
At the west end of the church, there's a special angled area called a canted baptistry, where baptisms take place. The windows along the sides of the church have two, three, or four sections with flat tops. The windows higher up in the clerestory have three sections with rounded tops. Both the east and west windows are very large, with five sections.
Inside the church, the arches that separate the nave from the aisles (called arcades) are supported by eight-sided pillars. Most of the beautiful colored glass windows were made by a company called Shrigley and Hunt.
More to Explore
- List of churches in Greater Manchester
- Listed buildings in Middleton, Greater Manchester
- List of ecclesiastical works by Austin and Paley (1895–1916)
- List of ecclesiastical works by Austin and Paley (1916–44)
