St Paul’s Church Halliwell Bolton

CONSECRATION OF ST PAUL’S CHURCH, HALLIWELL – On Thursday morning St Paul’s Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester. …  The church is a neat, unpretending building, of Gothic architecture approximating to that known as the Early English, or first pointed style. The nave is sixty-nine feet by thirty-eight feet; the chancel twenty feet by eighteen; and the roof is a fine open one, the height to the apex being fifty feet. It has been designed by, and built u the superintendence of Mr James Greenhalgh, architect, Bolton, and consists of a western porch, nave with bell-cot, and chancel. The nave is filled with low pews, all of which, even the free seats, are uniformly furnished with cushions for kneeling and sitting. The church is calculated to accommodate 384 persons and the western gallery will hold 120 children, in addition to the space occupied by a large and powerful organ. The roof of the chancel is richly coloured with ultramarine, studded with gold stars, and the beams are painted in vermillion and gold. The eastern triplet window is filled with stained glass. … (description of stained glass and fittings) …  In connection with the church, Mr Ainsworth has also built a spacious school-room, calculated to accommodate 300 children, and it is already well attended. The church stands on a square plot of ground adjoining the Halliwell Road, and on each side of it has been erected a row of cottages, constructed of stone in the same style as the school. [Manchester Guardian 24 June 1848 page 8]

Reference           Manchester Guardian 24 June 1848 page 8