St Paul's Church, Brookhouse Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids St Paul's Church, Brookhouse
St Paul's Church, Brookhouse, from the southwest
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OS grid reference	SD 542,646
Location	Brookhouse, Caton-with-Littledale, Lancashire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Paul, Brookhouse
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	Before 1230
Dedication	Saint Paul
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	4 October 1967
Architect(s)	E. G. Paley
Architectural type	Church
Style	Norman, Perpendicular, Gothic Revival
Completed	1867
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone rubble, slate roof
Administration
Deanery	Tunstall
Archdeaconry	Lancaster
Diocese	Blackburn
Province	York

St Paul's Church is a special old church located in Brookhouse, a village in Lancashire, England. It's an active Anglican church, which means it belongs to the Church of England. It's also a parish church, serving the local community. This church is very important, so it's listed as a Grade II* building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it's a historic building that needs to be protected.

History of St Paul's Church
- Rebuilding the Church in the 1800s
What Does St Paul's Church Look Like?
- Outside the Church
- Inside the Church
Images for kids
See also

History of St Paul's Church

The first mention of a church or chapel on this spot was before the year 1230. That's a very long time ago! The church tower you see today was probably built in the 1500s.

Rebuilding the Church in the 1800s

Most of the church was rebuilt between 1865 and 1867. This work was designed by a famous architect from Lancaster named Edward Graham Paley. The rebuilding cost about £4,000 at the time. This would be a lot of money today!

Paley himself used to attend this church because he had a home nearby. His son, Harry, who also became an architect, was buried in the churchyard.

What Does St Paul's Church Look Like?

The church is built from sandstone rocks and has a roof made of slate. It has a main area called the nave, with side sections called aisles. There's also a south porch, a north transept (a part that sticks out), a lower chancel (the area around the altar), and a tall tower at the west end.

Outside the Church

The tower is built in a style called Perpendicular Gothic. It has three levels, strong corner supports called buttresses, and a top edge that looks like castle walls. On the west side, there's a doorway with a large window above it. The windows where the bells are kept also have three sections.

On the south side of the church, you'll find the porch. The walls have buttresses that separate the windows, each with three sections. Near the easternmost window, there's a special door for the priest. Along the upper part of the church, called the clerestory, there are four more windows. The large east window also has three sections.

In the west wall of the north aisle, there's a very old doorway from the Norman period. It's now blocked up, but you can still see carvings of human figures above it. This doorway is filled in with old coffin lids and stone slabs from the Middle Ages.

Inside the Church

Inside, the main arches that separate the nave from the aisles are supported by eight-sided pillars. The reredos (a decorated screen behind the altar) is a copy of a painting called the Annunciation by an artist named Filippo Lippi. A local artist carved it, and its shiny gold frame was made by a company called Shrigley and Hunt.

Some of the beautiful stained glass windows were also made by Shrigley and Hunt, while others are by Abbott and Company. You'll also find some memorials inside that were moved from the older church. The oldest of these date back to 1775 and 1795. The church's organ was built by a company called Conacher.

Images for kids

St Paul's Church, Brookhouse, from the southwest

St Paul's Church, Brookhouse facts for kids

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