- St. Bartholomew's Church, Thurstaston
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St Bartholomew's Church, Thurstaston 
St Bartholomew's Church, ThurstastonLocation in Merseyside
St Bartholomew's Church, ThurstastonCoordinates: 53°20′55″N 3°07′56″W / 53.3485°N 3.1321°W OS grid reference SJ 247 841 Location Thurstaston, Wirral, Merseyside Country England Denomination Anglican Website St Bartholomew, Thurstaston History Dedication Saint Bartholomew Consecrated 1886 Architecture Status Parish church Functional status Active Heritage designation Grade II* Designated 15 November 1962 Architect(s) John Loughborough Pearson Architectural type Church Style Gothic Revival Completed 1885 Specifications Materials Red sandstone with a tiled roof Administration Parish Thurstaston Deanery Wirral North Archdeaconry Chester Diocese Chester Province York Clergy Rector Revd Jane Turner St Bartholomew's Church, Thurstaston is in the village of Thurstaston, Wirral, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Wirral North.[1] The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[2]
Contents
History
The earliest mention of a church on the site is around 1125 although other evidence suggests that a church was present in Anglo-Saxon times. In 1724 the Norman church was described as being a "mean building extremely small, low and dark". This church was taken down in 1820 and a new church completed in 1824. This church was in turn dismantled although its tower still stands. The new church was designed by John Loughborough Pearson and consecrated in 1886. A lychgate was erected in memory of Thomas Henry Ismay of Dawpool in 1900.[3]
Architecture
Exterior
The church is built in red sandstone with a tiled roof. Its plan consists of a three-bay nave, a chancel divided into a choir and a sanctuary, and a south vestry. Above the choir is a tower with a spire. The west end has angle buttresses and a tall three-light window. On the north and south sides of the nave are three three-light windows. On the north side of the tower are gabled buttresses flanking a three-light window. The bell stage has louvred paired bell openings. Above this is a cornice, simple pinnacles at the corners and a broach spire with louvred lucarnes. To the southwest of the tower is a round turret with a conical roof. The east window has five lights.[2]
Interior
The authors of the Buildings of England series describe the interior as "superb", particularly in the way that the visitor experiences "increasing richness" when "progressing eastwards".[4] There are arches at the entrance to the chancel and the sanctuary.[2] The reredos is in alabaster and depicts a relief of the Resurrection which is surrounded by angels in niches.[5] The pulpit is in alabaster and has pierced panels. The font is octagonal, made of Mexican onyx on Blue John shafts and coloured marble steps. A sedilia is on the south wall of the chancel. Also in the church is a dole cupboard dated 1723.[2] The organ case is dated 1905, designed by R. Norman Shaw with panels painted by Robert Christie. Some of the stained glass is by Clayton and Bell.[4] Above the door are the arms of Queen Anne.[6] On the wall at the west end of the church are white marble tablets commemorating members of the Whitmore and Glegg families.[3] The two-manual organ was built by Henry Willis & Sons in 1905 and designed by Dr A. L. Peace, organist of St George's Hall, Liverpool.[7] It was rebuilt by the same firm in 1963 and further modifications were made in 1985 by Rushworth and Dreaper, and in 1994 by Keith Ledson.[8] The ring consists of six bells, all by John Taylor & Co, five of which are dated 1886 and the sixth 2002.[9]
Exterior features
Near the church is the tower of the previous church which is dated 1824. It is built in three stages with an embattled parapet and is a Grade II listed building.[10] In the churchyard is a stone sundial dated 1844 which is also listed Grade II.[11] Also in the churchyard is a 17th century stone font with an octagonal bowl and a rounded stem, and the ancient stone coffin lid of a child.[12]
References
- ^ St Bartholomew, Thurstaston, Church of England, http://www.achurchnearyou.com/thurstaston-st-bartholomew/, retrieved 25 September 2011
- ^ a b c d Church of St Bartholomew, Thurstaston (1115782). National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ a b Turner, Richard, The History of the Churches, St Bartholomew, Thurstaston with St Chad, Irby, http://www.btinternet.com/~martin.amlot/history_of_the_churches.htm, retrieved 27 January 2008
- ^ a b Hartwell, Claire; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 637–638, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
- ^ Turner, Richard, The History of the Churches: Reredos, St Bartholomew, Thurstaston with St Chad, Irby, http://www.btinternet.com/~martin.amlot/reredos.htm, retrieved 28 January 2008
- ^ Turner, Richard, The History of the Churches: Hatchment, St Bartholomew, Thurstaston with St Chad, Irby, http://www.btinternet.com/~martin.amlot/hatchment.htm, retrieved 28 January 2008
- ^ Thurstaston St. Bartholomew, British Institute of Organ Studies, http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N04419, retrieved 13 August 2008
- ^ Thurstaston St. Bartholomew, British Institute of Organ Studies, http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N04420, retrieved 13 August 2008
- ^ Thurstaston S Bartholomew, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Thurstaston&Submit=++Go++&DoveID=THURSTASTO, retrieved 13 August 2008
- ^ Tower of former Church of St Bartholomew approximately 3 metres to southwest of present church (1075370). National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Sundial approximately 4 metres to south of Church of St Bartholomew (1115752). National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^ Morant, Roland W. (1989), Cheshire Churches, Birkenhead: Countyvise, pp. 182–183, ISBN 0 907768 18 0
Categories:- Buildings and structures in Wirral (borough)
- Church of England churches in Merseyside
- Religious buildings completed in 1886
- 19th-century Anglican church buildings
- Gothic Revival architecture in England
- Grade II* listed churches
- Grade II* listed buildings in Merseyside
- Diocese of Chester
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