Building Name

Mission Church Schools Asterley Parish of Pontesbury Shropshire

Date
1870
District/Town
Asterley
County/Country
Shropshire, England
Work
New Build

 ASTERLEY —A new mission school church at Asterley, a small outlying hamlet of the parish of Pontesbury, has been opened. The church is a simple and unpretending structure of brick, built in the Early English style, and having an apsidal chancel. Its extreme length is about 60 feet, and its width 18 feet. The nave is divided into five bays marked externally by deep buttresses, and having coupled single-light windows in each, whilst the chancel has loftier single light windows breaking up into the roof by gablets. At the western end a bell-cote, terminated by a wrought-iron cross, distinctly marks the character of the building; and the porch, of timber construction, occupies the westernmost bay of the south side of the nave. Internally the walls are left un-plastered, and the warm appearance of the brickwork forms a variation to the usual whitewash. The roof is an open one. The chancel is formed by a raised step, on which is placed a perforated low screen of woodwork, behind which are seats for the choir, of a more ornamental character than those of the nave. Beyond the choir rises the sacrarium, elevated three steps above the nave floor. The sacrarium and choir are laid with Shropshire tiles, from Messrs. Maw's works at Benthal, and the central window of the apse is filled with a stained-glass window, having for its subject the Crucifixion of our Lord. The church is nominally constructed to accommodate only 125 persons, but 180 found sitting or standing room in it at the opening. The edifice has been built by Mr. B. Yates, of Shifnal, from the designs of Messrs. Paull & Robinson, of Manchester. The fittings, some of which are available for school purposes, were made by Messrs Sidebotham & Co., of Manchester. The altar furniture was made from the architect's design by Messrs Jones & Miller, of Birmingham; and Messrs. Edmundson, of Manchester, supplied the stained glass, also from the architect's drawings. The font is the work of Mr. Yates, the contractor. The site on which the church stands was given by Mr. Henry Gardner, of Westley.

Reference           Builder 29 January 1870 Page 92