Church of the Good Shepherd, Tatham

Church of the Good Shepherd, Tatham
Church of the Good Shepherd, Tatham

Location in the City of Lancaster district

Coordinates: 54°04′59″N 2°31′49″W / 54.0831°N 2.5303°W
OS grid reference SD 654654
Location Tatham Fell, Lancashire
Country England
Denomination Anglican
Churchmanship Central
Website The Good Shepherd, Tatham Fells, Lowgill
History
Dedication Good Shepherd
Architecture
Status Parish church
Functional status Active
Heritage designation Grade II
Designated 24 February 1986
Architect(s) Paley and Austin
Architectural type Church
Style Gothic Revival
Completed 1889
Construction cost £1,200
Specifications
Materials Sandstone, stone slate roof
Administration
Deanery Tunstall
Archdeaconry Lancaster
Diocese Blackburn
Province York
Laity
Reader(s) Mary Winter, Peter Osborne,
Ann Dawson
Churchwarden(s) John Wilson,
Carole Butcher
Parish administrator S. Mason

The Church of the Good Shepherd is on Tatham Fell in Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Tunstall, the archdeaconry of Lancaster and the diocese of Blackburn. Its benefice is united with those of St Wilfrid, Melling, St John the Baptist, Tunstall, St Peter, Leck, St James, Tatham, and Holy Trinity, Wray, to form the benefice of East Lonsdale.[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[2]

History

A church has stood on the site since at least 1577, and possibly earlier.[1] The present church was built in 1888–89 to replace a church dating from about 1840. It was designed by the Lancaster architects Paley, Austin and Paley. The new church provided seating for 140 people, and cost £1,200 (£120,000 in 2015).[3][4]

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in sandstone rubble, and has a stone slate roof. Its plan consists of a nave and a chancel, a central tower, a vestry on the north side of the tower, and a south porch. Other than the east window, all the windows have round heads. On the north side of the nave are two two-light windows and on the south side is one three-light window. The west window has two lights and contains Perpendicular tracery. On the south side of the chancel is one single-light window and one with two lights. The east window has a pointed head and four lights, with Perpendicular tracery. The tower has buttresses on its north and south walls. On its south side is a two-light window. The bell openings have a single light with a trefoil head, and are louvred. At the top of the tower is a pyramidal roof behind a coped parapet.[2]

Interior

The lectern dates from the late 19th century, and incorporates 17th-century carving. The stained glass is by Shrigley and Hunt. The east window dates from about 1905 and depicts the Good Shepherd. The west window dates from 1909. The monuments include an oval slate slab from the older church dated 1795. Also in the church are the painted royal arms of George III, and Commandment and Creed boards dating from the late 18th century.[5] The single-manual organ (without pedals) was made by Watson Lever and Company. It was restored in 1980 by R. D and E. H. Holmes.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Good Shepherd, Tatham Fells, Lowgill, Church of England, retrieved 8 October 2011
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Historic England. "Church of the Good Shepherd, Tatham (1362587)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. ↑ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2014), "What Were the British Earnings and Prices Then? (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
  4. ↑ Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, pp. 137, 237, ISBN 978-1-84802-049-8
  5. ↑ Hartwell, Clare; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2009) [1969], Lancashire: North, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 665, ISBN 978-0-300-12667-9
  6. ↑ Lancashire, Tatham Fells, Church of Good Shepherd (R00773), British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 8 October 2011