Wallasey Memorial Unitarian Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wallasey Memorial Unitarian Church |
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| OS grid reference | SJ 309 922 |
| Location | Manor Road, Liscard, Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Unitarian |
| Website | Wallasey Memorial Unitarian Church |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 20 January 1988 |
| Architect(s) | Edmund Waring and Edmund Rathbone |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Arts and Crafts |
| Groundbreaking | 1898 |
| Completed | 1899 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Brick with stone dressings, tile roof |
The Wallasey Memorial Unitarian Church is a special old building in Manor Road, Liscard, Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside, England. It's no longer used as a regular church. This building is very important, so it's listed as a Grade II* building. This means it's a historic place that needs to be protected. The Historic Chapels Trust now looks after it.
History of the Church
This church was built a long time ago, between 1898 and 1899. Two architects, Edmund Waring and Edmund Rathbone, designed it. A rich local woman named Martha Elam paid for the church to be built. She was a Unitarian, which is a type of Christian faith.
Edmund Rathbone was also a Unitarian. He came from a famous family in Liverpool who were involved in banking and business. Many people in his family were "nonconformists," meaning they didn't follow the main Church of England. Some of them became Unitarians.
Another person from the Rathbone family, Harold Rathbone, made a special ceramic artwork for the church. This artwork is called a reredos. It's a large piece that goes behind the church's main table. It was probably the biggest artwork ever made by the Della Robbia Pottery in Birkenhead, which didn't exist for very long.
Saving the Church
By 1993, the church had very few members, only four people! It looked like the building might be torn down. But the inside of the church was so beautiful and unique. Its special furniture and decorations were very important.
An article was written about the church in a magazine called Country Life. Because of this, the Historic Chapels Trust decided to take over the building in 1995. They saved it from being demolished. The church reopened its doors in October 2002.
Today, the church is used for different things like meetings, art shows, and other events. Sometimes, worship services are still held there. You can even get married there if you are a Unitarian. The building next door, which used to be the church hall, is now used by the Wallasey School of Ballet.
What the Church Looks Like
The church is built with bricks and has stone decorations. Its roof is made of tiles. The style is called "Flemish revival," which was popular for public buildings like libraries at the time. It doesn't look like a typical church from the outside. There are no Christian symbols or religious pictures on the outside walls.
The church building is shaped like a rectangle. It has a front entrance area called a narthex. To the left of the main church is a church hall and a small room called a vestry. There's also a porch on the left with a small, eight-sided tower called a turret.
The inside of the church is truly special. It's a rare and amazing example of the "Arts and Crafts" style in a nonconformist chapel. Many skilled artists and designers from the Bromsgrove Guild created the things inside.
For example, Bernard Sleigh painted the panels on the ends of the choir stalls. These are the special seats for the choir. Benjamin Creswick carved the figures you can see on the choir stalls. The large artwork behind the main table, the reredos, was designed by Harold Rathbone at his Della Robbia Pottery in Birkenhead. Even the ironwork, like the electric lights, was designed by a famous sculptor named Walter Gilbert. He also made copper panels for the lectern, which is a stand for reading.
See also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Merseyside
- Listed buildings in Wallasey
- List of chapels preserved by the Historic Chapels Trust
