St Peter's Church, Bolton

For other uses, see St. Peter's Church and Bolton Parish Church (disambiguation).

St Peter's Church
The Parish Church of St Peter, Bolton-le-Moors
St Peter's Church
53°34′45″N 2°25′23″W / 53.5793°N 2.4230°W / 53.5793; -2.4230Coordinates: 53°34′45″N 2°25′23″W / 53.5793°N 2.4230°W / 53.5793; -2.4230
Location	Bolton
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Website	www.boltonparishchurch.co.uk
History
Founded	Anglo-Saxon origin
Dedication	Saint Peter
Consecrated	29 June 1871
Architecture
Status	Parish Church
Architect(s)	Edward Paley
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1871
Construction cost	£45,000
Specifications
Length	156 feet (48 m)
Width	67 feet (20 m)
Height	Roof 82 feet (25 m) Tower 180 feet (55 m)
Materials	Longridge stone
Administration
Parish	Bolton-le-Moors
Archdeaconry	Bolton
Diocese	Manchester
Province	York
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd. Matt Thompson
Curate(s)	Revd. Prof. Kenneth Newport, MSt Dphil
Laity
Organist(s)	Stephen Carleston

St Peter's Church, Bolton-le-Moors, commonly known as Bolton Parish Church, is a Church of England parish church in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The parish church, dedicated to St Peter, is an example of the gothic revival style. The church was designated a Grade II* Listed building by English Heritage in 1974,^[1] and upgraded to Grade I in the early 21st century.

St Peter's is an active parish church in the Diocese of Manchester and is part of the Bolton deanery and Bolton archdeaconry.^[2]

History

The first church was probably built in Anglo-Saxon times. Amongst early archaeological evidence of Christianity in Bolton-le-Moors is a large preaching cross dating from the mid 8th century, discovered during the demolition of the old church in the late 1860s.^[3]

A stone church was built in Norman times and rebuilt in the early 15th century. Little is known of the early buildings, but the 15th century church is known to have been a solid, squat structure with a sturdy square tower at the west end. It was modified over the years, but the population of Bolton rapidly expanded and the church, in a poor state of repair, became too small and was demolished in 1866. Fragments of stone and other artefacts from the first three buildings are displayed in the museum corner of the present church.^[4][5]

Today, the parish of Bolton-le-Moors covers the town centre and its immediate surroundings.^[6] Until the 1840s, however, the ancient parish covered a considerably larger area, which was divided into townships.^[7][8]

Structure

The church was built between 1866 and 1871 of ashlar, Longridge stone to designs by Edward Graham Paley of the Paley and Austin partnership, of Lancaster. The church is 67 feet (20 m) in width, 156 feet (48 m) in length, and 83 feet (25 m) high. The tower is 180 ft in height

Plan

The church, built in sandstone with slate roofs, has a nave with clerestory and two aisles, transepts and chancel with a lady chapel and pipe organ chamber; its tower projects from the west end of the north aisle; on the south side of the south aisle is a gabled porch with a wrought-iron screen. The vestry, which was added later, to the north side of the church at its north east corner, is reminiscent of the chapter houses of pre-Reformation abbeys.^[1]

Exterior

The church has a four stage tower with clasping buttresses at each corner which terminate in crocketted finials. There are two-light decorated, lancet windows in the second and third stages, and paired bell chamber lights at the fourth stage. The west door of the tower is in a moulded archway with polished granite shafts. The door, designed by Austin, retains its original ornate hammered ironwork door furniture.^[1]

The church has a five-bay nave, divided by buttresses with lean-to aisles and a clerestory above. In each bay is a three-light decorated window with tracery. The clerestory has paired windows with ball flower decorations and gargoyles. There are traceried pinnacles at the east end of chancel.There is a seven-light east window in the chancel with lancet windows above it. The north transept has a seven-light window and there is a five-light decorated window in the south transept. The lady chapel to the east of the chancel has two two-light windows to south and a three-light east window.^[1]

Fittings and furnishings

The chancel and west end of the nave have an encaustic tiled floor by Minton. The octagonal wood panelled pulpit wraps round the northern crossing pier, it has stone base and a wrought-iron rail to the stairs. The nave seating, canopied civic stalls and the choir stalls are original.^[1] Three 15th century misericords survive from the earlier church built in the 14th century.

The tower has a peal of 13 bells.^[4]

Vicars of Bolton-le-Moors

The following is a list of the vicars since the Reformation.^{[7] [9]}

1560–1582: Edward Cockerell 1582–1593: Alexander Smythe 1594–1595: John Albright 1595–1598: Zacharias Saunders 1598–1625: Ellis Saunderson 1625–1630: Robert Parke 1630–1644: William Gregg 1644–1657: John Harpur 1657–1662: Richard Goodwin 1662–1671: Robert Harpur 1671–1673: Michael Stanford 1673–1691: John Lever 1691–1721: Peter Haddon 1721–1737: Thomas Morrall 1737–1789: Edward Whitehead 1789–1793: Jeremiah Gilpin 1793–1811: Thomas Bancroft

1811–1817: John Brocklebank 1817–1857: James Slade 1857–1886: Henry Powell 1887–1896: James Augustus Atkinson 1896–1901: Edwyn Hoskyns 1902–1909: Henry Henn 1909–1922: Thomas Alfred Chapman 1922–1930: Spencer Cecil Carpenter 1930–1933: Spencer Hayward Elliot 1933–1948: Walter John Havelock Davidson 1948–1965: Richard Greville Norburn 1965–1983: Harold Ormandy Fielding 1983–1990: Alfred Christopher Hall 1991–1998: Alan Wolstencroft 1999–2007: Michael Joseph Williams Priest-in-Charge 2008–present: Matthew Thompson

Organ

The church has a three manual organ, installed in the earlier church in 1795, and rebuilt in 1882 in a case designed by AG Hill, and painted with stylised flowers and angels.^[1] In 2008 it was completely rebuilt by Principal Pipe Organs of York under the consultancy of John Norman, a senior professional organ consultant.^[10]

List of organists

• Walter J. Lancaster 1889 - ???? (previously organist of St. Michael's College, Tenbury)
•  ?
• William Clarkson Barker
•  ?
• William Morgan 1959 - ????
• Kevin Morgan 1986 - ????
• Stephen Carleston 2000^[10] - current

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

See also

• List of churches in Greater Manchester
• Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester
• List of ecclesiastical works by E. G. Paley

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Church of St Peter, Churchgate, Images of England, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=475975, retrieved 2007-12-29 
2. ^ Bolton Archdeanery, Manchester Diocese, http://www.manchester.anglican.org/churches/bolton-archdeaconry/bolton, retrieved 2010-09-13 
3. ^ St Peter's, Bolton.org, http://www.bolton.org.uk/stpeters.html, retrieved 2010-09-13 
4. ^ ^{a b} History of Bolton Parish Church. Official website. URL accessed 6 February 2008.
5. ^ Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (July 2007). "Churchgate, Bolton: Conservation Area Appraisal" (pdf). Bolton.gov.uk. http://www.bolton.gov.uk/pls/portal92/docs/48955.PDF. Retrieved 2007-12-29. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Bolton-le-Moors: St Peter (Parish Map). URL accessed 6 February 2008.
7. ^ ^{a b} The parish of Bolton-le-Moors. British History Online. URL accessed 6 February 2008.
8. ^ Map of Bolton ancient parishes. URL accessed 9 February 2008.
9. ^ Life of the priest. Parish Magazine, June Issue 2008, page 6. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
10. ^ ^{a b} Bolyton Parish Church Organ back to its former glory, Bolton News, http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/3979129.Bolton_Parish_Church_organ_back_to_its_former_glory/, retrieved 2010-08-03