St Chad's Church, Kirkby

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Basic information
St Chad's Church, Kirkby
Shown within Merseyside
Location	Kirkby, Knowsley, Merseyside, England
Geographic coordinates	53°28′58″N 2°53′35″W / 53.482778, -2.89296Coordinates: 53°28′58″N 2°53′35″W / 53.482778, -2.89296
Religious affiliation	Church of England
Year consecrated	1871
Website	St Chad's Kirkby
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Paley and Austin
Architectural type	Church
Year completed	1871
Specifications
Materials	Red sandstone with a tiled roof

St. Chad's Church, Kirkby is in the town of Kirkby, Knowsley, Merseyside, England (grid reference SJ407988). The current Grade II listed building^[1] was built from 1869-1871^[2] by the 4th Earl of Sefton. It was designed by the Paley and Austin^[3] firm of architects. It is dedicated to St Chad, who it is believed visited Kirkby during the latter half of the seventh century.

1 History
2 Church Life
3 Structure
4 The font
5 Sources
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

The first chapel on this site is believed to have been erected in 870 when the settlement was established by norsemen. This chapel was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 where the area was cited as 'Cherchebi', meaning church by settlement.

In 1766 and at a cost of £1043 which was raised by parson Thomas Wilkinson, a new chapel was built on the ancient church site. This was a plain red brick building, which was further enlarged in 1812 when it was capable of holding 600 people.

The foundation stone for the current church was laid on 31 March 1869 by William Molyneux, 4th Earl of Sefton, near to the still standing older chapel. The construction of the new church was requested by the Charles Molyneux, 3rd Earl of Sefton, of his son, before he died. While the construction should have taken just a few months there was a strike amongst the masons and the building was not completed until 1871.

A final service was held in the old chapel on the morning of Wednesday, 4 October 1871. On the same day the new church was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Chester. The old chapel was finally demolished in 1872 although part of its altar still remains in the grounds. The stones from the old chapel were kept and used to build the wall that surrounds the new church.

A war memorial was built in the churchyard to the memory of all the people of the area who lost their lives in the two World Wars. Many of these belonged to Lord Derby's Regiment. At the base of the cross is an inscription of the year AD 870.

[edit] Church Life

Church of England services are held every Sunday at 11:00am and on Tuesday at 9:30am. In addition to this there are a variety of social and community activities supported by the parish.

[edit] Structure

The church is of sandstone construction mostly taken from the nearby Ruffwood quarry, now known as Quarry Green. One of the more noticable features of the interior are the pillars, which along the North aisle are octagonal and along the South aisle are round. This came about as a compromise solution to a dispute amongst the congregation as to the design at the time of the building of the church.

[edit] The font

The baptismal font is the most treasured possession of the church. It is of either late Saxon or early Norman construction and is made of sandstone. The existence of the font proves that St. Chad's has been a baptismal church since at least the 12th century.

The font has been extremely well preserved and is in almost perfect condition, despite having been abandoned to the churchyard for many years. This most likely occurred at the time of the construction of the 1766 chapel. During this time it was used as a cistern.

The font was eventually rescued in 1850 by the then Vicar and restored to the chapel and finally the present church building upon its construction in 1871. The design of the font consists of a double coil of serpents on which rests the upper part of the font which is circular and has ten different sized compartments, each one containing a figure.

One scene shows Adam and Eve with the tree of knowledge of good and evil and a serpent. In the next compartment is a winged figure with a sword raised in its right hand. The next figure is of Christ driving a spear into the head of a serpent. The other seven compartments have single figures believed to represent the seven orders of the clergy in the Saxon church. Around the bottom of the font is a carving of a rope, which has no beginning and no end.