Tower: Christ Church Bolton Road Pendlebury

Consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester on 24 December 1859, Christ Church Pendlebury, was designed by W.R. Corson (qv) in the Early English style and built at a cost of approximately £3,000. It was intended to accommodate 587 people, all sittings being free. The provision was basic, comprising a nave, chancel, south porch and vestry but without aisles or transepts. Edward Heywood was much involved in the Pendlebury area of the parish, helping to establish Christ Church and contributing towards the cost of the building. However the Heywood family appear to have been disappointed in the results. Their architect of choice had previously been Gregan whose practice had been continued by the less talented W R Corson.The Heywoods would not repeat their mistake; all future church building would be commissioned from the leading architects of the Gothic Revival - Street at Swinton and Dove Leys, and Bodley at St Augustine's Pendlebury

In 1861, G.F. Bodley was commissioned to design a tower for the recently completed Christ Church. Why exactly Bodley should have supplanted Corson still remain unclear although the influence of the Heywood family was probably the determining factor. In August 1861, a contract was formed between Oliver Heywood and Solomon Hollins, stonemason of Castle Field for the building of the tower at a cost of £1,095, the contract stipulating that the tower was to be completed as quickly as possible.

Bodley completely disregarded the style of the existing building and chose instead to produce a design in French gothic style crowned with a steeply gabled roof set at right angles to the roof of the nave.