Christ Church, St Helens Road, Pennington, Leigh

NEW CHURCH AT LEIGH - On Thursday last the foundation stone of Christ Church, to be erected in Pennington, Leigh, was laid by the Right Hon Lord Lilford, the patron and also lord of the manor. ... The church is to be built from designs by Mr E H Shellard, architect, of Manchester; and is estimated to cost £4,300. The following is a description of the building: Christ Church will be built of stone, in the perpendicular style of Gothic architecture, and will consist of a nave and two side aisles, with a chancel at the east end, a tower at the west end, and a porch upon the north side. Externally the aisles will be divided into six bays, each bay containing a large pointed window of perpendicular character, a buttress of three stages in height being placed between each window. The clerestory, or nave building above the aisles, will contain six two-light windows, with pointed heads. The chancel will rise nearly as high as the nave, be of the same width, and be divided into two bays, each containing a pointed window of two lights. The east end will be occupied by a large window of five lights or divisions, with a flat pointed head filled in with perpendicular tracery. The chancel, clerestory and aisles will be coped with a plain parapet of ashlar. The tower (70 or 80 feet high) will consist of three stages in height, angle buttresses being placed at each corner, and carried up to the top where they will be terminated by large crocketted pinnacles rising above the parapet. The lower stage on the west side will contain the entrance doorway; above which will be a large pointed window, giving light to the organ chamber. The upper stages will be ornamented by coupled windows of two lights on all four sides of the tower and each surmounted with a crocketted label moulded of an ogee form, terminating in a finial. The parapet will be embattled. Internally the church will also be divided into six bays. The nave will be divided from the two side aisles by six pointed arches upon each side, supported upon five octagonal stone piers, and will be entered through the west side through the tower and on the north through the porch. The chancel, which will be a continuation of the nave, but not so lofty, will be divided therefrom by a moulded archway, the floor being slightly raised. The pulpit and desk, which will be of an ornamental character, are to be so placed as not to obstruct the view of the chancel. The roofs will be open timbered, and, together with the pewing, will be stained of a dark colour. A west gallery, entered from the porch will be erected for the accommodation of the children. The church is calculated to contain 800 persons, including children, and will be 70 feet long by 50 feet in width; the chancel will be 30 feet in length by 20 feet in width. [Manchester Guardian 21 May 1853 page 6]