| St Ann's (old) Church, Warrington | |
Southeast aspect of St Ann's Church, Warrington
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| OS grid reference | SJ 606 890 |
|---|---|
| Location | Warrington, Cheshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| History | |
| Consecrated | 27 February 1869 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 24 October 1974 |
| Architect(s) | John Douglas |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1866 |
| Closed | 1966 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Red brick with blue brick dressings Slate roof |
St Ann's Church, Warrington is a redundant Anglican church in Warrington, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[1] It was closed for worship in November 1995 and since 1996 has been used as an indoor climbing centre.[2] From the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s the church was heated by steam from the then adjacent Tetley Walker's brewery.[1] A new St Ann's church on a different site half a mile away was built in 2000.[3]
Contents |
The church was built between 1866 and 1868 to a design by John Douglas.[1] There were delays caused by bad weather, and it was not until local solicitor William Beamont paid the builder that the church was consecrated, on 27 February 1869.[4] In 1996 it became a climbing centre with a mezzanine in the chancel. These changes are said to be reversible.[2]
The church is built in red brick with some dressings in blue brick and it has a slate roof. Its plan consists of a six-bay nave without aisles, an apsidal chancel, north and south porches, a north vestry and a southeast tower. The tower is in the angle between the nave and the chancel and in in three stages. In the lower stage is a single lancet window and in the second stage are three similar windows. The third stage contains pairs of louvred bell openings and above these is a corbelled parapet. On the southwest corner is a stair-turret rising to the height of the tower and capped by a tall conical-roofed turret rising above the parapet. On top of the tower is a tall steeply-pitched saddle-back roof.[1] In the sanctuary (but currently obscured) are paintings of The Evangelists by Westlake, dated 1868, which were repainted by T. Hesketh in 1894.[2]
Edward Hubbard describes its architecture as being "quite startlingly bold and original".[5] In the Buildings of England series it is described as being "an impressively forceful High Victorian work..., bold and uncompromising", and the "bizarre juxtaposition" of the climbing walls and 19th-century architecture is described as "strangely enjoyable".[2]