St Saviour's Church, Stydd facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Saviour's, Stydd |
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| OS grid reference | SD 6538435980 |
| Location | Stydd, Lancashire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | www.saintwilfrids.org.uk/ |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 11 November 1966 |
| Administration | |
| Deanery | Preston |
| Archdeaconry | Lancaster |
| Diocese | Blackburn |
| Province | York |
St Saviour's Church is a special old chapel in Stydd, a small village near Ribchester in Lancashire, England. It belongs to the Anglican Church, which is the main Christian church in England. This church is so important that it has been given a "Grade I listed building" status by English Heritage. This means it's one of the most important historic buildings in the country and needs to be protected.
Contents
A Look Back: The History of St Saviour's
People have lived in Stydd since the 1100s. There has been a place of worship, like a church or chapel, on this very spot since at least the 1200s, maybe even as early as 1190.
This church is the only building left from a group of structures that were owned by the Knights Hospitallers. The Knights Hospitallers were a famous group of Christian knights who helped pilgrims and cared for the sick during the Middle Ages. They took over these buildings in the late 1200s.
During the First World War, students and teachers from a nearby school, Stonyhurst College, dug up the area around the church. They found signs of other buildings, but it was hard to tell exactly what they were used for or how old they were.
Exploring the Church's Design
Outside the Church: What It Looks Like
St Saviour's Church is built from rough sandstone rocks and has a roof made of stone tiles. The roof is held up by simple wooden beams. The church has a basic rectangular shape, with one main room that serves as both the nave (where people sit) and the sanctuary (the area around the altar). There's also a small porch on the south-west side. The church does not have a tall tower.
You'll notice strong, square supports called buttresses at each corner of the building. These help to hold the walls up.
There's a doorway on the north side with a simple, curved arch. The doorway on the south side is protected by the porch. The west wall used to have a doorway, but it's now blocked up. This blocked doorway has a pointed arch with two decorative layers.
The church has some interesting windows. On the north wall, there are two narrow, rounded windows from the Norman period (a very old style). The east window has three sections, and the west window has two sections, both with criss-crossing stone patterns called Y-tracery. On the south wall, there are two windows with three sections each, built in the Perpendicular style (a later Gothic style). One has round tops, and the other has pointed, curved tops.
Inside the Church: Features and Furnishings
The inside of the church is about 46 feet (14 meters) long and 20 feet (6 meters) wide. It has a floor made of stone flags, and the walls are plastered and painted white.
Near the altar, on the south wall, there's a small stone basin called a piscina. It has a three-leaf shape at the top, but the bowl part is missing. There isn't a clear wall or arch separating the nave from the sanctuary, but the sanctuary floor is a little bit higher. There's a wooden screen between the two areas that was added in the 1600s or 1700s.
The wooden pulpit, where sermons are given, stands against the south wall. It has eight sides with square panels and sits on a stone base. There are stone steps leading up to it. The baptismal font, which is used for baptisms, is also octagonal and made of sandstone. It's from the Late Perpendicular style and has carvings of shields that are still in good condition.
Inside the church, you can also find stone monuments. These are memorials to important people like Sir Adam and Lady Alicia Clitheroe, and to Bishop Francis Petre.
See also
