Church of St Clare, Liverpool
Encyclopedia
The Church of St Clare, Liverpool is located on the corner of Arundel Avenue and York Avenue in the Sefton Park
area of Liverpool
, Merseyside
, England . It is a Grade I listed building and an active Roman Catholic parish church
in the Archdiocese of Liverpool and the Pastoral Area of Liverpool South. It is the only Grade I listed Roman Catholic church in the Archdiocese of Liverpool. Pollard and Pevsner
consider it to be "one of the most imaginative churches of its date in the country".
, who were cotton brokers, at a cost of £7,834. The architect was Leonard Stokes
, the godson of Francis Reynolds. It is considered to be Stokes' "first really outstanding ecclesiastical design". The foundation stone
was laid on 25 March 1889, the church was consecrated on 3 June 1890 and opened for worship on 20 July of that year. The contractors for the building were Morrison and Sons of Wavertree
.
style. Its roof is of slate. The plan of the church consists of a single vessel with a small north transept
, long and low north and south chapels at the east end, and two porches, one at either side of the west end. Along the south wall are confessional
s under a lean-to roof. The west face is simple with a large seven-light window. The porches are gable
d; over the north doorway is a niche
containing a statue of St Clare
and in the corresponding position in the south porch is a statue of St Francis
. The south chapel, the Sacred Heart Chapel, has its own saddleback roof and four round-headed five-light windows. The north chapel is the Lady Chapel
and has a large west window of seven lights. The east face of the church is also simple and contains a short wide nine-light window, the outer two lights on each side being blind. The transept is gabled with one three-light window and a stair turret with a conical roof which gives access to the organ loft. In the angle of the nave and transept is a small octagonal turret with copper flèche
. Inside the church are internal buttress
es which are pierced to form narrow passage aisles. The buttresses are linked by arches which support balconies. The interior of the church has ten bays with a wagon roof.
which contains paintings and relief sculptures
by Robert Anning Bell
and George Frampton
. The stone pulpit
was designed by Stokes and consists of four sides of a hexagon with openwork tracery
. The font
is shaped like a chalice
and is made of alabaster
with a copper cover. The marble
altar rails, erected in 1933, stretch across the width of the nave and the chapels. Around the church the Stations of the Cross
are oil paintings which were installed in 1892 at a cost of £300. In the chapels are statues of religious subjects by Mayer and Company
of Munich. The oldest stained glass in the church is in the Sacred Heart Chapel, the Sacred Heart window, which was installed in 1906. The Catherine of Siena
window in the chapel was erected in 1912. The stained glass in the east window of the church, depicting the Crucifixion
, was installed in 1908. The organ loft is situated above the Lady Chapel. The organ was built in 1892 by Steele & Keay of Burslem
and was renovated in 1920 by Henry Willis & Sons
.
adjoining the church was also designed by Stokes and it is a Grade II listed building. It is built in brick with a slate roof and runs from the north of the chancel. Pollard and Pevsner considered that the curved hoodmoulds
over the door anticipate the Art Nouveau
style.
Sefton Park
Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a district of the same name within the Liverpool City Council Ward of Mossley Hill, and roughly within the historic bounds of the large area of Toxteth Park...
area of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
, England . It is a Grade I listed building and an active Roman Catholic parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the Archdiocese of Liverpool and the Pastoral Area of Liverpool South. It is the only Grade I listed Roman Catholic church in the Archdiocese of Liverpool. Pollard and Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
consider it to be "one of the most imaginative churches of its date in the country".
History
The church was built in 1888–90 and paid for by the brothers Francis and James ReynoldsSir James Reynolds, 1st Baronet
Colonel Sir James Philip Reynolds, 1st Baronet DSO was an English businessman and Conservative Party politician....
, who were cotton brokers, at a cost of £7,834. The architect was Leonard Stokes
Leonard Stokes
Leonard Aloysius Scott Stokes was an English architect.Leonard Stokes was born in Southport in 1858. He trained in London and travelled in Germany and Italy. Most of his designs were for Roman Catholic buildings, including churches, convents and schools. His first outstanding work was the...
, the godson of Francis Reynolds. It is considered to be Stokes' "first really outstanding ecclesiastical design". The foundation stone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
was laid on 25 March 1889, the church was consecrated on 3 June 1890 and opened for worship on 20 July of that year. The contractors for the building were Morrison and Sons of Wavertree
Wavertree
Wavertree is an area of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England, and is a Liverpool City Council ward. It is bordered by a number of districts to the south and east of Liverpool city centre from Toxteth, Edge Hill, Fairfield, Old Swan, Childwall and Mossley Hill....
.
Structure
The church is built in buff-coloured brick with Storeton stone bands and dressings, and is in GothicGothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style. Its roof is of slate. The plan of the church consists of a single vessel with a small north transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
, long and low north and south chapels at the east end, and two porches, one at either side of the west end. Along the south wall are confessional
Confessional
A confessional is a small, enclosed booth used for the Sacrament of Penance, often called confession, or Reconciliation. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation, and also in the...
s under a lean-to roof. The west face is simple with a large seven-light window. The porches are gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d; over the north doorway is a niche
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
containing a statue of St Clare
Clare of Assisi
Clare of Assisi , born Chiara Offreduccio, is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi...
and in the corresponding position in the south porch is a statue of St Francis
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
. The south chapel, the Sacred Heart Chapel, has its own saddleback roof and four round-headed five-light windows. The north chapel is the Lady Chapel
Lady chapel
A Lady chapel, also called Mary chapel or Marian chapel, is a traditional English term for a chapel inside a cathedral, basilica, or large church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary...
and has a large west window of seven lights. The east face of the church is also simple and contains a short wide nine-light window, the outer two lights on each side being blind. The transept is gabled with one three-light window and a stair turret with a conical roof which gives access to the organ loft. In the angle of the nave and transept is a small octagonal turret with copper flèche
Flèche
A flèche is used in French architecture to refer to a spire and in English to refer to a lead-covered timber spire, or spirelet. These are placed on the ridges of church or cathedral roofs and are usually relatively small...
. Inside the church are internal buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es which are pierced to form narrow passage aisles. The buttresses are linked by arches which support balconies. The interior of the church has ten bays with a wagon roof.
Fittings and Furniture
The high altar dating from 1890 consists of a large triptychTriptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
which contains paintings and relief sculptures
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
by Robert Anning Bell
Robert Anning Bell
Robert Anning Bell was an English artist and designer.He was born in London in 1863, the son of Robert George Bell, a cheesemonger, and Mary Charlotte Knight. He studied at University College School, the Westminster College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools, followed by a time in Paris. On...
and George Frampton
George Frampton
Sir George James Frampton, RA was a notable British sculptor and leading member of the New Sculpture movement.-Early life and career:...
. The stone pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
was designed by Stokes and consists of four sides of a hexagon with openwork tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
. The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
is shaped like a chalice
Chalice (cup)
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. In general religious terms, it is intended for drinking during a ceremony.-Christian:...
and is made of alabaster
Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
with a copper cover. The marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
altar rails, erected in 1933, stretch across the width of the nave and the chapels. Around the church the Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
are oil paintings which were installed in 1892 at a cost of £300. In the chapels are statues of religious subjects by Mayer and Company
Franz Mayer & Co.
Franz Mayer & Co. is a famous German stained glass design and manufacturing company, based in Munich, Germany, that has been active throughout most of the world for over 150 years...
of Munich. The oldest stained glass in the church is in the Sacred Heart Chapel, the Sacred Heart window, which was installed in 1906. The Catherine of Siena
Catherine of Siena
Saint Catherine of Siena, T.O.S.D, was a tertiary of the Dominican Order, and a Scholastic philosopher and theologian. She also worked to bring the papacy of Gregory XI back to Rome from its displacement in France, and to establish peace among the Italian city-states. She was proclaimed a Doctor...
window in the chapel was erected in 1912. The stained glass in the east window of the church, depicting the Crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
, was installed in 1908. The organ loft is situated above the Lady Chapel. The organ was built in 1892 by Steele & Keay of Burslem
Burslem
The town of Burslem, known as the Mother Town, is one of the six towns that amalgamated to form the current city of Stoke-on-Trent, in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, in the Midlands of England.-Topography:...
and was renovated in 1920 by Henry Willis & Sons
Henry Willis & Sons
thumb|250px|St Bees Priory organ, the last major instrument to be personally supervised by "Father" Henry Willis, 1899Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845 in Liverpool. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other...
.
External features
The two-storey presbyteryRectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
adjoining the church was also designed by Stokes and it is a Grade II listed building. It is built in brick with a slate roof and runs from the north of the chancel. Pollard and Pevsner considered that the curved hoodmoulds
Hood mould
In architecture, a hood mould, also called a label mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater...
over the door anticipate the Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style.