St Nicholas' Church, Wallasey

St Nicholas' Church, Wallasey
St Nicholas' Church, Wallasey
St Nicholas' Church, Wallasey Location in Merseyside
53°25′46″N 3°04′18″W / 53.4294°N 3.0716°W / 53.4294; -3.0716Coordinates: 53°25′46″N 3°04′18″W / 53.4294°N 3.0716°W / 53.4294; -3.0716
Location	Newport Avenue, Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Nicholas, Wallasey
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	21 July 2005
Architect(s)	J. F. Doyle
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1910
Completed	1911 (1911)
Construction cost	£15,000
Specifications
Capacity	Up to 700
Length	128 feet 6 inches (39.2 m)
Width	54 feet (16.5 m)
Spire height	75 feet (22.9 m) (tower)
Materials	Storeton sandstone Yorkshire stone flag roof
Administration
Parish	Wallasey St Nicholas with All Saints
Deanery	Wallasey
Archdeaconry	Chester
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Jeff Staples
Laity
Reader(s)	Louise Jones
Director of music	Gill Hazlehurst
Churchwarden(s)	Elizabeth Brandwood, Julie Pollitt
Flower guild	Elizabeth Brandwood
Parish administrator	Cally Lane

St Nicholas' Church is in Newport Avenue, Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside, England, and is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester. It was designed by J. F. Doyle and built in 1910–11, according to the memory of members of the local Harrison family. The church is located near Wallasey Golf Club and is known as the Harrison Memorial Church or the Golfers' Church. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

History

Funding for the church was donated by members of the local Harrison family, and it was designed by the Liverpool architect J. F. Doyle. The foundation stone was laid by a member of the Harrison family on 26 April 1910.^[1] The church cost £15,000 to build and provided seating for up to 700 people. It was consecrated by the Rt Revd Francis Jayne, Bishop of Chester on 29 November 1911. It is known as the Harrison Memorial Church and, because of its proximity to Wallasey Golf Club, as the Golfers' Church.^[2]

Architecture

Exterior

St Nicholas' Church is built in Storeton sandstone and is roofed with Yorkshire stone flags. The church is orientated in the opposite direction from the usual liturgical orientation, with its chancel at the west end.^[3] It is built on sand and therefore stands on a raft of steel and concrete.^[1] The church has a cruciform plan, with a central tower above the crossing, a nave and a chancel, both with clerestories, north and south aisles, north and south transepts, north and south porches, a chancel, a south Lady Chapel, and a north vestry. The tower has louvred bell openings, a battlemented parapet, and an octagonal stair turret on the northwest corner. The windows contain curvilinear tracery.^[3] Carvings by Norbury and Sons are located around the doors and windows and along the sides of the church. These include depictions of King George V and Queen Mary, King Edward I and Queen Eleanor, and foliage, seaweed, a dragon, and a medieval monk.^[1]

Interior

Inside the church, the arcades have quatrefoil piers, pointed arches, and capitals with carvings that include the Four Evangelists, a ship, an anchor, seaweed, and the emblems of Saint Nicholas.^[1][3] There are also carvings of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Saint Peter, and Saint Nicholas. In the chancel are carvings of cherubs and angels, and wooden corbels carved with seaweed, fish, a cross, an anchor, a heart, and a crown. The oak reredos was designed by Doyle; it is 15 feet (4.6 m) high and is intricately decorated. In the central panel are carvings of Christ on the cross flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John, and the outer panels contain angels. The canopy is elaborately decorated and has pinnacles, crockets, and openwork. The lectern is in the form of an eagle, and its pedestal stands on the backs of three lions. The pulpit is approached by seven steps and contains carved panels. The wooden font stands on two steps and has an octagonal bowl on a quatrefoil shaft; its panels are carved with symbols relating to baptism.^[1]

There are two screens, each a memorial to one of the World Wars. The stained glass in the windows is by Shrigley and Hunt. In the north transept is the Harrison Window, which depicts Christ preaching from a ship and the draught of fishes. On the north side is a war memorial window showing a fallen soldier wearing a kilt, with Reims Cathedral in the background.^[4] Another window, known as the Parkin Window or the Golfers' Window, includes depictions of golfers with their golf bags and Liverpool landmarks.^[1][4] The ring consists of eight bells. Six of these were cast in 1911 by John Warner & Sons, and the other two date from 1977 and were cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.^[5] The three-manual pipe organ was made in 1911 by John Nicholson of Worcester. It was modified in about 1975 by John Cowin of Liverpool, and again in about 1995 by Keith Ledson, also of Liverpool.^[6]

Appraisal

The church was designated as a Grade II listed building on 21 July 2005.^[3] Grade II is the lowest of the three grades of listing and is applied to buildings that are "nationally important and of special interest".^[7]

Present day

St Nicholas' is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Wallasey, the archdeaconry of Chester, and the diocese of Chester.^[8] It is sited near Wallasey Golf Club.^[9] Services are held in the church each Sunday.^[10]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Nicholas's church, Wallasey.

• Listed buildings in Wallasey

References