Christ Church, Walshaw

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Parish of Christ Church, Walshaw
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Christ Church from the South West
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Parish of Christ Church, Walshaw
Location in Greater Manchester
53°36′01″N2°20′21″W / 53.600251°N 2.339052°W / 53.600251; -2.339052
OS grid reference SD 775,116
LocationHigh St, Walshaw
Greater Manchester, England
Denomination Anglican
Churchmanship Evangelical
Website Christ Church, Walshaw
History
Status Parish church
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationGrade II*
Designated29 January 1985
ArchitectLawrence Booth
Architectural typeChurch
Style Gothic Revival
Years built1888
Construction cost£20,000
Administration
Province York
Diocese Manchester
Archdeaconry Bolton
Deanery Bury
Parish Christ Church, Walshaw

Christ Church is an active church community on High Street in Walshaw, a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury Greater Manchester, England. Designed in the Gothic Revival style by Lawrence Booth in 1888, the building was funded by Rev John Gorrell Haworth and Miss Nancy Haworth, [1] [2] and took four years to complete. [3] It was erected as a memorial to Manchester cotton and fustian manufacturer Jesse Haworth, as noted prominently across the west facade of the building. The church is a Grade II* listed building. [1]

Contents

The church is large, with an especially wide nave and has an "admirable" steeple at its southeast corner, visible from the town of Bury in the valley below. [4] The nave is crossed by two broad transepts, each two bays wide. Interior columns are of granite with shaft rings and in places the arcades feature double rows of columns. [4] The windows are in the Gothic style but, as Pevsner notes, they have "un-Gothic transoms." [4]

Internally, the church features a fine circular font, encrusted with stiff-leaf decoration. [4]

The churchyard contains war graves of three soldiers and two airmen of World War II. [5]

Christ Church has connections with the local community, including the church primary school and the local day nursery, and actively supports local voluntary secular and Christian mission agencies including Porch Boxes food bank, Bury Street Pastors, and Bury's CAP Debt Centre. The parish also engages in national and international ministry through its support and partnership with 'Tearfund', the 'Bible Society', 'Compassion' and 'The Bury Project: Christians Against Poverty'. [3]

Services are normally held at 11am every Sunday.

The church hosts midweek events including Walshaw Community Choir, a Baby & Toddler group, and occasional 'Cake & Chat' social occasions.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Historic England. "Christ Church (Grade II*) (1163417)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  2. "Kelly's Directory; Tottington 1924". Bury Council Archives. Kelly's. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Christ Church, website". Christ Church Walshaw. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Pevsner, Nikolaus (1969). Buildings of England: South Lancashire. London: Penguin. p. 101.
  5. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine CWGC Cemetery Report, details from casualty record.