St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge
Encyclopedia
St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge, is in Little Lever
, Bolton
, Greater Manchester
, England. It is an active Anglican parish church
in the deanery of Walmsley, the archdeaconry of Bolton, and the diocese of Manchester
. The church has been designated a Grade II* listed building by English Heritage
, and is the first of three "pot churches" designed by Edmund Sharpe
, so-called because they are constructed largely of terracotta.
architect Edmund Sharpe. It is built mainly in terracotta made by the local firm of the Ladyshore Coal and TerraCotta Company, which was owned by Sharpe's brother-in-law, John Fletcher. There were problems in firing the terracotta resulting in considerable wastage but, despite this, the church cost only £2,600 (£ as of ) to build. The church was formally opened on 18 February 1844, and consecrated
on 26 June 1845 by Rt Revd John Bird Sumner, the Bishop of Chester
. Originally the church had a spire, with crocket
ed pinnacle
s, a parapet
with open tracery
, and traceried windows. By the 1930s the spire had become unsafe, and it was dismantled in 1937. There had been plans to rebuild it, but the lower part of the tower was dismantled by the local steeplejack
Fred Dibnah
in 1966. Following the discovery of extensive dry rot
in 1989 a programme of repairs, including the removal of the dry rot, has been undertaken.
roof, all the visible fabric of the church is terracotta, the use of which material has allowed for a high degree of decoration. The plan of the church is cruciform, consisting of a nave
with a west porch (the original base of the tower), two wide transept
s, a short chancel
, and a vestry
in the angle between the north transept and chancel. Externally the nave is divided into five bays
by buttress
es which are surmounted by finial
s. Each bay contains a two-light window in Decorated style. The transepts and chancel are similarly divided, with four-light Decorated windows at their ends. Along the top runs an openwork parapet
.
is carried on terracotta corbel
s. There is much decoration, with frieze
s, ball-flowers, foliage, inscriptions, panels, and blind arcade
s, all in terracotta. Behind the altar, forming a reredos
, are niches
, and panelling incorporating the words of the Ten Commandments
, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer
. Terracotta also forms the pew ends, which are decorated with poppy heads
, and the organ case. The original altar, the octagonal diapered
font
and pulpit
were also in terracotta. The stained glass in the east window, and in some of the windows elsewhere in the church, is by Thomas Willement
; one of these windows depicts the execution of Charles I
. A window in the south transept is by William Wailes
and shows the stoning
of Saint Stephen
; and one of the windows in the north transept was designed by Henry Holiday
in 1884.
, and St Paul's, Scotforth
. Its use in St Stephen's has been described as "part experiment, part advertisement". Critical reaction at the time it was built varied from the Illustrated London News, who called it a "truly elegant structure", and the Ecclesiologist, who considered its decoration to be "pretense and affected". Today the Buildings of England
series states that "the interior is exceptionally pretty", and National Heritage List for England, referring to the terracotta, states it is "a remarkable demonstration of the capabilities of the material".
Little Lever
Little Lever is a large village within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is southeast of Bolton, west of Radcliffe, and west-southwest of Bury....
, Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, England. It is an active Anglican 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 deanery of Walmsley, the archdeaconry of Bolton, and the diocese of Manchester
Anglican Diocese of Manchester
The Diocese of Manchester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York, England. Based in the city of Manchester, the diocese covers much of the county of Greater Manchester and small areas of the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.-History:...
. The church has been designated a Grade II* listed building by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, and is the first of three "pot churches" designed by Edmund Sharpe
Edmund Sharpe
Edmund Sharpe was an English architect and engineer. He started his career as an architect, initially on his own, then in partnership with Edward Paley, designing mainly churches but also some secular buildings...
, so-called because they are constructed largely of terracotta.
History
The church was built between 1842 and 1844 to a design by the LancasterLancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
architect Edmund Sharpe. It is built mainly in terracotta made by the local firm of the Ladyshore Coal and TerraCotta Company, which was owned by Sharpe's brother-in-law, John Fletcher. There were problems in firing the terracotta resulting in considerable wastage but, despite this, the church cost only £2,600 (£ as of ) to build. The church was formally opened on 18 February 1844, and consecrated
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
on 26 June 1845 by Rt Revd John Bird Sumner, the Bishop of Chester
Bishop of Chester
The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York.The diocese expands across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the City of Chester where the seat is located at the Cathedral...
. Originally the church had a spire, with crocket
Crocket
A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....
ed pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
s, a parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
with open 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:...
, and traceried windows. By the 1930s the spire had become unsafe, and it was dismantled in 1937. There had been plans to rebuild it, but the lower part of the tower was dismantled by the local steeplejack
Steeplejack
A steeplejack is a craftsman who scales buildings, chimneys and church steeples to carry out repairs or maintenance.Britain's most famous steeplejack was Fred Dibnah, who became a television presenter and minor celebrity as a result of his craft....
Fred Dibnah
Fred Dibnah
Frederick "Fred" Dibnah MBE , born in Bolton, was an English steeplejack and eccentric with a keen interest in mechanical engineering who became a cult television personality....
in 1966. Following the discovery of extensive dry rot
Dry rot
Dry rot refers to a type of wood decay caused by certain types of fungi, also known as True Dry Rot, that digests parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness...
in 1989 a programme of repairs, including the removal of the dry rot, has been undertaken.
Exterior
Other than the slateSlate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roof, all the visible fabric of the church is terracotta, the use of which material has allowed for a high degree of decoration. The plan of the church is cruciform, consisting of a nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with a west porch (the original base of the tower), two wide 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...
s, a short chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
, and a vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
in the angle between the north transept and chancel. Externally the nave is divided into five bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
by 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 surmounted by finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
s. Each bay contains a two-light window in Decorated style. The transepts and chancel are similarly divided, with four-light Decorated windows at their ends. Along the top runs an openwork parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
.
Interior
Internally the timber hammerbeam roofHammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof, in architecture, is the name given to an open timber roof, typical of English Gothic architecture, using short beams projecting from the wall.- Design :...
is carried on terracotta corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s. There is much decoration, with frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
s, ball-flowers, foliage, inscriptions, panels, and blind arcade
Blind arcade
A blind arcade is an arcade that is composed of a series of arches that has no actual openings and that is applied to the surface of a wall as a decorative element: i.e. the arches are not windows or openings but are part of the masonry face. It is designed as an ornamental architectural element,...
s, all in terracotta. Behind the altar, forming a reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
, are niches
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;...
, and panelling incorporating the words of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
. Terracotta also forms the pew ends, which are decorated with poppy heads
Poppyhead (carving)
Poppyhead is a form of carving of the end of a bench or a choir stall. The carving consists of leaves and flowers, which are usually in the form of a fleur-de-lys....
, and the organ case. The original altar, the octagonal diapered
Diapering
Diaper is any of a wide range of decorative patterns used in a variety of works of art, such as stained glass, heraldic shields, architecture, silverwork etc. Its chief use is in the enlivening of plain surfaces.-Etymology:...
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:...
and 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...
were also in terracotta. The stained glass in the east window, and in some of the windows elsewhere in the church, is by Thomas Willement
Thomas Willement
Thomas Willement, 1786–1871, was a British stained glass artist, called “the Father of Victorian Stained Glass”, active from 1811 to 1865.-Biographical:Willement was born on the 18th July 1786 at St Marylebone, London....
; one of these windows depicts the execution of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. A window in the south transept is by William Wailes
William Wailes
William Wailes, , was the proprietor of one of England’s largest and most prolific stained glass workshops.- Biographical :Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England’s centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. His first business was as a grocer and tea merchant...
and shows the stoning
Stoning
Stoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
of Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
; and one of the windows in the north transept was designed by Henry Holiday
Henry Holiday
Henry Holiday was an English historical genre and landscape painter, stained glass designer, illustrator and sculptor. He is considered to be a member of the Pre-Raphaelite school of art.-Early years and training:...
in 1884.
Context and assessment
Although terracotta was to become a frequently used building material, particularly in the industrial North of England, it was rarely used for churches. The only churches to be built with this material were the three designed by Sharpe, the others being Holy Trinity, RusholmeHoly Trinity Platt Church
Holy Trinity Platt Church , is in Platt Lane, Rusholme, Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Hulme, the archdeaconry of Manchester, and the diocese of Manchester. The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building...
, and St Paul's, Scotforth
St Paul's Church, Scotforth
St Paul's Church, Scotforth, is in Scotforth, a suburb of Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Lancaster, the archdeaconry of Lancaster and Morecambe, and the diocese...
. Its use in St Stephen's has been described as "part experiment, part advertisement". Critical reaction at the time it was built varied from the Illustrated London News, who called it a "truly elegant structure", and the Ecclesiologist, who considered its decoration to be "pretense and affected". Today the Buildings of England
Pevsner Architectural Guides
The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of the British Isles. Begun in the 1940s by art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the Buildings of England series were published between 1951 and 1975. The series was then extended to Scotland and...
series states that "the interior is exceptionally pretty", and National Heritage List for England, referring to the terracotta, states it is "a remarkable demonstration of the capabilities of the material".
See also
- List of architectural works by Edmund Sharpe
- Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester