Church of St James the Apostle Waterloo Street Bolton

BOLTON - The chief stone of St. James's Church, Waterloo-street, has been laid. The foundations are already in, and some of the walls are several feet above the level of the ground line. The quicksands that prevail in Bolton have given some trouble here, but the walls have been taken down to a solid bottom; and concrete, and stones of great size have been used to prevent risk. The church comprises a nave of four bays, divided from the north and south-side aisles by four arches. These arches will spring from moulded and carved capitals of white stone; the cylindrical shafts which sustain the capitals being of a fine red stone, obtained from a quarry near Liverpool. Eastward of the nave a broad arch opens into the chancel, wherein are the choir seats and the prayer-desks. Six yards more to the east is another arch, beyond which the chancel ends polygonally, and is lighted by three traceried windows. The eastern part of the chancel is to be fitted np and furnished in the usual way. The tower and spire are placed over the western part of the chancel; north and south of which are transepts. The southern one will be appropriated chiefly for School children, who will enter by a separate door. Underneath the north transept is a cellar, where will be placed Haden's heating apparatus. There are no galleries; and the church will seat on the ground floor about 880 persons. The amount of the contract, which has been taken by Messrs. Warburton, is £4,600, which includes tower, spire, and all the fittings complete. The style of the church is Early Decorated. It is to be built of stone throughout. The roofs are to be covered with Welsh slates. The floor under the seats is to be of wood, and the chancel, passages, porches, etc., are to be tiled. The nave is lighted by a large four-light traceried window at the west end, and by sixteen traceried clear- story windows above the aisle roof. The aisle windows are of one, two, and three lights, according to their position. The architect is Mr J. M. Taylor, of Manchester. [Builder 15 June 1867 page 436]

OPENING OF ST JAMES’S CHURCH WATERLOO STREET – This new district church has been opened at three o’ clock this afternoon by licence of the Lord Bishop of Manchester.  ......  In the autumn of 1864 the charitable trustees under the will of the late John Barrow, having at their disposal a considerable sum of money left by Mr. Barrow towards the building fund. advertised for designs. A very large number were sent in under cipher. From amongst these two were selected for consideration, which were found to be by the same architect, and ultimately one of these with a central steeple (as now carried out) was adopted. In the first instance it was proposed to build, at the coat of £5,000, a church to seat 1,000 people; but afterwards, in consequence of subscriptions not coming in as liberally as was hoped, it was decided to reduce the cost somewhat, and the accommodation to 800. However, before the builders’ estimates were asked for, the plans were enlarged in various ways, so that the church, now built, will accommodate nearly 900 persons on the ground floor, there being no galleries. The building contract was taken by Messrs H and S Warburton, of Harpurhey, Manchester. A large congregation is now waiting for the church, having quite outgrown the temporary building in which services have been conducted for several years past. The consecration is necessarily deferred until the liabilities arising out of the building have been met. The ground plan of the church embodies an idea which has become rather popular of late. for what are called cross churches. The first of this type was built by the same architect at Radcliffe Bridge, some time ago. First of all, there is a spacious western porch, rather longer than the width of the nave, and so arranged that one door may serve for entrance, while there are three to allow for speedy exit. At the north end of this western porch is the baptistery, which opens into the church with a couple of narrow arches resting on a central pillar. The nave is more than ordinary breadth, and is marked off from the aisles by four arches on either side. The chancel, which terminates towards the east with a semi-circular apse, is 43 feet long by 20 feet wide, the steeple being built over the western half of it. The choir seats are, of course, under the steeple, and the flat boarded ceiling of this part is well-adapted for sound.

To the north of the choir is the transept **feet long, affording ample space for the organ, as well as for large and convenient vestries. The south transept is not quite so long, but has an aisle on its east side, opening out of it by a double arcade, and is also provided with a separate door. Here the school children will sit, near to the minister and choir, and yet a little retired from the bulk of the congregation. The unusual arrangement of the plan enhances the effect of size and gives far greater interest to the interior than would be obtained if the whole of the church could be seen at a glance immediately upon entering. The seats are low and open benches; the choir stalls being somewhat more ornate. The prayer desk stands on the south side, and on the north, is the pulpit, which is circular in form, with open arched sides, relieved with diaper carving and small marble pillars. There will be a low screen across the chancel arch, upon which will stand the Bible lectern. The font is bowl-shaped, and is enriched with much carving and ornament. The floors of the passages and chancel are all laid with good red and black tiles in patterns. There are wood floors under the pews. The heating apparatus is by Haden and Company of Trowbridge, in Wiltshire. The windows are all filled with good thick granulated glass of a warm amber tint, rendering the light pleasant and blinds unnecessary. The tracery of the windows has the lead work arranged in various pretty devices, suiting the forms of the stonework. The apse windows, by Lavers, Barraud, and Co., (whose examples in the Bolton Mechanics Exhibition have been much admired), are fitted with glass, having a floral ornament. The capitals of the two pillars of the nave, nearest to the east have been well-carved by Mr Green, of Manchester, with the Rose of Sharon and Lily of the Valley. The gas fittings have been supplied by Thomason of Birmingham, and consist of wall brackets, those in the nave being a little above the tops of the capitals. Those in the eastern part of the chancel are very handsome; the others, though of good design, are less elaborate. This mode of lighting a church of this description is found to be effective, economical and comfortable. The west end of the church has three arches in the lower part; the central one containing a doorway; the others will, it is hoped, ere long be occupied by medallions and other decoration. Above these arches is a four-light window, about 20 feet high, casting a flood of light behind the congregation and upon their books. For the sake of obtaining as much light as possible from above, there are 19 clerestory windows, arranged in pairs, of alternate design. The architectural style of the church is what is technically known as Early Geometric Decorated.

The best view of the edifice from the outside is the south-west. The tower and spire rise from the centre of the building to a height of about 150 feet. To the right is the circular ape, with its traceried windows, with buttresses between them. The children’s transept projects from the south wall of the tower, the upper part containing a large rose window filled with tracery, and below it three other windows, the central one containing a carved medallion in its head. In the angle between the apse and the south transept comes the turret staircase leading to the ringing loft. The belfry is octagonal in shape, and each side has a window fitted with slate louvres. It is capable of containing a full peal of eight large bells. The spire is also octagonal, but the octagon is reversed—that is— an angle comes over each face of the octagon below. There are traceried windows in the south side. The western porch before referred to is a projection from the main body of the building. and is covered with a low sloping roof. In the central part, there are two doors, with windows between them, and at the south end there is another door. Flying buttresses rise over this porch, with pinnacles to resist the thrust of the nave arches within. As the sum expended had necessarily to be small in proportion to the amount of accommodation required, and the size and height of the steeple the details are not of course very elaborate, and the effect chiefly been in the arrangement disposition of the plan, and of the necessary features. The church is scientifically constructed that is to say, strength is given where it is required. and buttresses and such appendages are not placed merely as shams, and for the sake of so-called ornament. The architects are Messrs Medland and Henry Taylor, of St. Ann’s Churchyard, Manchester. [Bolton Evening News Thursday 11 March 1869 page 3]

Consecrated       18 May 1871.

Reference    Manchester Guardian 27 May 1867 page 3
Reference    Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, Monday 27 May 1867 page 3-4
Reference    Builder 15 June 1867 page 436
Reference    Building News, 21 June 1867 page 431
Reference    Builder 20 March 1869 page 222 and notes
Reference    Building News 12 March 1869 page 236
Reference    Bolton Evening News Thursday 11 March 1869 page 3
Reference    Pevsner: Lancashire: South