- Christ Church, Barnton
-
Christ Church, Barnton 
Christ Church, Barnton, from the southeastLocation in Cheshire
Christ Church, BarntonCoordinates: 53°16′08″N 2°32′45″W / 53.2689°N 2.5459°W OS grid reference SJ 637 748 Location Barnton, Cheshire Country England Denomination Anglican Website Christ Church, Barnton History Founded 25 October 1841 Consecrated 7 October 1842 Architecture Status Parish church Functional status Active Heritage designation Grade II Designated 18 July 1986 Architect(s) Edmund Sharpe (attributed) Architectural type Church Style Gothic Revival Construction cost £1,400
(£107,000 as of 2011)Specifications Materials Sandstone and brick
Slate roofsAdministration Parish Christ Church, Barnton Deanery Great Budworth Archdeaconry Chester Diocese Chester Province York Clergy Vicar(s) Revd Paul Newman Assistant Beryl Dickens Laity Reader Christina Westwell Organist(s) Harry Davenport Churchwarden(s) Dorothy Slaney, Ian Stanley Parish administrator Ann Smith Christ Church, Barnton, is in the village of Barnton, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Great Budworth, the archdeaconry of Chester, and the diocese of Chester.[1] The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.[2]
Contents
History
Christ Church was built in 1841–42. The foundation stone was laid on 25 October 1841, and the church was consecrated on 7 October 1842 by Rt Revd John Bird Sumner, Bishop of Chester. The land for the church cost £30 (£2,300 as of 2011),[3] and the church itself cost £1,400 (£107,000 as of 2011).[3][4] The cost of the land was met by Revd Richard Greenall, vicar of St Matthew's Church, Stretton, Archdeacon of Chester, and a member of the Greenall's family, brewers in Warrington.[5] The church website states that the architect was Edmund Sharpe of Lancaster.[5] There is no documentary evidence that Sharpe was the architect, but owing to the stylistic similarity of the design to his other works at about the same time it has been attributed to him.[4]
A considerable restoration was undertaken in 1888, which included covering the internal brick walls with cement rendering. In 1899 the church was extended at the east end by enlarging the nave and the chancel, and installing a new east window. A new organ chamber was built on the south side of the church, and the vicar's vestry on the north side was demolished. The extension was consecrated on 19 September 1900 by Revd Francis Jayne, Bishop of Chester.[5] A small extension was added to the church in 1974.[2]
Architecture
The church is constructed in Runcorn red sandstone, and its interior is lined with red brick.[4] It has a Welsh slate roof. The plan consists of an eight-bay nave and chancel in one range, a south porch, and a south chapel containing the organ. At the west end is a double bellcote. The bays along the sides of the nave are divided by buttresses, and each bay contains a lancet window. There are triple lancet windows at the east and west ends of the church.[2]
Inside the church is a gallery at the west end carried on cast iron columns. The reredos contains Gothic arcading and a carving of the Last Supper.[2] The Bath stone pulpit had been made in 1842 for St Helen Witton Church, Northwich, and was moved to Christ Church in 1888, having been bought for £10 (£800 as of 2011).[3][5] The authors of the Buildings of England series describe the pulpit as being "Puginesquely elaborate".[6] The two-manual organ was built in 1913 by Wadsworth and Brother, and may contain pipework from an earlier organ.[7]
See also
- List of architectural works by Edmund Sharpe
References
- ^ Christ Church, Barnton, Church of England, http://www.achurchnearyou.com/barnton-christ-church/, retrieved 4 August 2011
- ^ a b c d "Christ Church, Barnton", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1287611, retrieved 4 August 2011
- ^ a b c UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Lawrence H. Officer (2010) "What Were the UK Earnings and Prices Then?" MeasuringWorth.
- ^ a b c Hughes, John M. (2010), Edmund Sharpe: Man of Lancaster, John M. Hughes, p. 134
- ^ a b c d Christ Church History, Christ Church, Barnton, http://www.christchurchbarnton.org.uk/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&Itemid=48, retrieved 5 August 2011
- ^ Hartwell, Claire; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 121, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
- ^ Cheshire, Barnton, Christ Church (N04332), British Institute of Organ Studies, http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N04332, retrieved 4 August 2011
Categories:- Grade II listed churches
- Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire
- Religious buildings completed in 1842
- 19th-century church buildings
- Anglican congregations established in the 19th century
- Gothic Revival architecture in Cheshire
- Diocese of Chester
- Edmund Sharpe buildings
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
