All Saints' Church, Wigan

All Saints' Church, Wigan


Country United Kingdom
Denomination Church of England
Churchmanship Broad Church
Website www.wiganparishchurch.org
History
Dedication All Saints
Architecture
Heritage designation Grade II* listed
Administration
Parish Wigan
Diocese Diocese of Liverpool
Province York
Clergy
Rector Raymond John Hutchinson
Curate(s) J Haworth
Laity
Organist/Director of music Karl Greenall

All Saints' Church, Wigan is the Church of England parish church in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

It is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

Contents

History

The church is medieval but most of the present building was erected between 1845 and 1850 by the Lancaster partnership of Sharpe and Paley,[2] when it was almost entirely rebuilt,[3] at a cost of £15,000 (£1,277,920 as of 2012).[4][5] In 1861 the tower was raised in height, and the clock chamber and pinnacles were added, this time by E. G. Paley working alone. The tower was restored again in 1922 when its lower part was refaced in Parbold stone. This was managed by the successors in the same practice, Austin and Paley.[3]

The church was originally in the Diocese of York. Around the beginning of the 10th century it moved to the Diocese of Lichfield. In 1541 the Diocese of Chester and 1880 the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool.

The rectors of the parish church were lords of the manor of Wigan, a sub-manor of Newton (Newton-le-Willows), until the 19th century.

Features

Memorials

Churchyard War Memorial

The churchyard war memorial is by Giles Gilbert Scott erected in 1925.

Organ

The church has had pipe organs from at least as early as 1620. The current instrument has been rebuilt several times from a new organ installed in 1708. A number of famous organ builders have restored and enlarged the instrument, including Samuel Renn, and William Hill. A specification of the current organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Organists

The church has had a number of famous organists, including:

See also

The Organ of Wigan Parish Church

References

  1. ^ Images of England: Church of All Saints, Wigan, English Heritage, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=484991, retrieved 20 June 2010 
  2. ^ The Buildings of England. Lancashire: Liverpool and the southwest. Richard Pollard, Nikolaus Pevsner, Joseph Sharples
  3. ^ a b Hughes, John M. (2010), Edmund Sharpe: Man of Lancaster, John M. Hughes, pp. 214–218 
  4. ^ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Lawrence H. Officer (2010) "What Were the UK Earnings and Prices Then?" MeasuringWorth.
  5. ^ The History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. George Bridgeman
  6. ^ Dictionary of Organs and Organists. Fred. W. Thornsby. 1912