St George's Church, Tyldesley | |
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![]() Tyldesley Parish Church from the north | |
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53°30′49″N2°28′17″W / 53.5135°N 2.4714°W | |
OS grid reference | SD 688 019 |
Location | Lower Elliot Street, Tyldesley, Greater Manchester |
Country | England |
Denomination | Anglican |
Website | The Parish Church of St George |
History | |
Status | Parish church |
Dedication | St George |
Consecrated | 19 September 1825 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | Grade II |
Designated | 18 July 1966 |
Architect(s) | Sir Robert Smirke |
Architectural type | Church |
Style | Gothic Revival |
Groundbreaking | November 1821 |
Completed | 1887 |
Specifications | |
Capacity | 1,100 (originally) |
Length | 112 feet (34 m) |
Width | 60 feet (18 m) |
Spire height | 150 feet (46 m) |
Materials | Sandstone |
Administration | |
Province | York |
Diocese | Manchester |
Archdeaconry | Salford |
Deanery | Leigh |
Parish | Tyldesley cum Shakerley |
St George's Church is an Anglican parish church serving Tyldesley and Shakerley in Greater Manchester, England. It is part of Leigh deanery in the archdeaconry of Salford and the diocese of Manchester. [1] The church, together with St Stephen's Church, Astley and St John's Church, Mosley Common is part of the united benefice of Astley, Tyldesley and Mosley Common. [2]
A Waterloo Church, it was founded as a chapel of ease of the parish church in Leigh in 1825, in a rapidly expanding township. A mistake with plans led to a larger church than the site could accommodate and extra land and money was donated to ensure the church could be completed. The church was extended at the east end and re-seated in the 1880s and has survived two fires. The churchyard contains the graves of victims of a disaster at Yew Tree Colliery. In 1966 the church was designated a Grade II listed building.
Up to 1789, when the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion built Tyldesley Top Chapel, the population of Tyldesley was dependent on the parish church in Leigh, an ancient ecclesiastical parish that, from medieval times, covered six townships. As the population grew quickly after 1800, a movement seeking to have an established church in the township developed. Thomas Johnson, owner of the Banks Estate gave land at the western end of the banks on which to build a Commissioners' Church. It was paid for by money from the parliament of the United Kingdom raised by the Church Building Act 1818, and said to be a celebration of Britain's victory in the Battle of Waterloo. [3] £17,000 (equivalent to £1,480,000 as of 2021), [4] was promised by the Church Building Commissioners. [3] The architect was Robert Smirke. [5] It was one of 174 neo-Gothic and 40 Classical style churches built under the Act. [6]
Work began in November 1821 and the foundation stone was laid on 23 April 1822—St George's Day. As construction progressed, it was realised that the structure was too big for the site and that the plans had been inadvertently exchanged for the Church of St George in Chorley. [7] Thomas Johnson's nephew, George Ormerod gave more land for the churchyard and £2,000 (equivalent to £170,000 as of 2021), [4] so that the church could be finished. Building work was completed in November 1824. Bells for the tower were transported on carts from Leigh on 10 August 1825 arriving to celebrations in the town when the largest bell was upturned and filled with ale supplied by all the local inns. [8]
The chapel was consecrated on 19 September 1825 by the Bishop of Chester and dedicated to Saint George. [3] It was licensed as a chapel of ease of Leigh Parish Church and known as St George's Chapel. Tyldesley became a district parish in August 1829. On the last day of 1833 the curate, the Reverend Jacob Robson, writing in the parish registers, signalled the change in the spelling of the township name from Tildesley to Tyldesley. [9]
The church was altered and refurbished in 1886 and 1887 when the east end was extended by 12 feet to form a new chancel. At the same time the vestry and entrance porch were added to the north side and the west end of the church was remodelled by architects Preston and Vaughn and the work completed by contractors Cordingley and Stopford. The large west gallery was removed and a smaller one installed. Central doors were hung in an archway below the gallery. The woodwork was by J. Pearson of Pendleton. The nave and aisle roofs were panelled in pitch pine, the wooden floor was replaced and the windows were reglazed. Paint was removed from the interior stonework and the columns were reduced in thickness. The church was relit and a heating system by J. Grundy of Tyldesley was installed. [10]
In 1920 a War Memorial Chapel, known as the Lady Chapel was dedicated. [11]
St George's has survived two fires, the first in 1878 when the upper west galley housing the choir and organ was destroyed causing their removal to the chancel. The second fire, in 1966, destroyed half the roof and part of the ceiling. [12]
In 1886 St John's Church at Mosley Common was built as a chapel-of-ease to St George's. [13]
Sandstone for St George's was quarried at Peel Quarry in Little Hulton. [14] The church was built in the Early English Gothic style [13] with a seven-bay nave and clerestory which, according to Pevsner have, "unconvincing Geometric aisle windows and squashed Y-tracery on the clerestory". [15] The chancel has two-light windows to the south and north walls and a three-light east window, all with geometrical tracery. On the north side is a vestry and a porch in the westernmost bay. [5] The church is 112 feet (34 m) in length and 60 feet (18 m) in width. [3]
The tower at the west end has a west door and rises in three stages to a parapet with crocketed pinnacles and flying buttresses at each corner to a recessed octagonal spire that rises to 150 feet (46 m) in height. At its second stage is a lancet window, and at the third stage, three lancet belfry openings and a clock face to each side of the tower. [5]
The tower contains a peel eight bells, the original six were cast in 1825 by William Dobson at Downham Market in Norfolk. [3] In 1910 the bells were rehung and two trebles by Mears and Stainbank added. [11] [16] In the 1960s, subsidence and cracks in the tower prevented the bells being rung but an inspection in 2012 revealed the bells could be rung after repairs to the frame. The Lancashire Association of Change Ringers paid for the repairs and the bells were rung again in December 2012. [17]
The town's first public clock, with three faces was installed on the tower in 1847, it was paid for by public subscription. A four-faced clock installed in 1913, wound by hand until 1967, now has an electrical movement. In 1937, electricity superseded gas for lighting. After 1912 the town council was responsible for the cost of repairs and illumination. [18]
The church, when first built, could seat 1,100 people. The church retains its west gallery, originally there were two but the upper gallery was destroyed in a fire. The original 1825 font was replaced by a larger one in 1853. In 1860 an organ was bought from Willis of London for £350 replacing a barrel organ given by George Ormerod when the church opened. [19]
Most of the church woodwork dates from the extensions and refurbishment in 1887. The chancel woodwork is in American walnut and was carved by Earp of Manchester. The wooden altar is elaborately carved as is the reredos. The pulpit is in carved walnut on a base of Mansfield red stone. A new case was made for the organ at the east end of the south aisle. New pitch pine pews were stained and polished to match the chancel woodwork and replaced the original box pews. [10] [20]
The stained glass in the east window was designed by William Pointer of Manchester and dates from 1956. On either side of the window are mosaic panels dated 1914, each of which depicts two evangelists. The stained-glass windows depicting saints in the north and south walls of the chancel date from the 19th century and were moved from Bishopscourt, the former palace of the Bishops of Manchester, in about 1958. Monuments include one dated 1855 showing a "grieving woman slumped over an urn" and a bronze plaque from 1924. [21]
During its first hundred years, St George's had four incumbents. Jacob Robson came to the church as curate in 1825, becoming vicar in 1842, although Tyldesley was made a parish in 1829. He died in 1851. [9] His successor was George Richards who was vicar from 1851 to 1884, during which time 14 of the 25 victims of the Yew Tree Colliery firedamp explosion in 1858 were buried in the churchyard. [22] John Lund was the next incumbent. He oversaw the extension of the east end of the church in 1886 and the building of the vicarage in 1902. [20] He was vicar for 36 years until 1920 when he was replaced by Samuel Fleming who was vicar until 1948. [23]
Atherton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England and historically part of Lancashire. The town, including Hindsford, Howe Bridge and Hag Fold, is 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Bolton, 7 miles (11.3 km) east of Wigan, and 10 miles (16.1 km) northwest of Manchester. From the 17th century, for about 300 years, Atherton was known as Chowbent, which was frequently shortened to Bent, the town's old nickname. During the Industrial Revolution, the town was a key part of the Manchester Coalfield.
Astley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is crossed by the Bridgewater Canal and the A580 East Lancashire Road. Continuous with Tyldesley, it is equidistant from Wigan and Manchester, both 8.3 miles (13.4 km) away. Astley Mosley Common ward had a population of 11,270 at the 2011 Census.
All Saints' Church in Wallgate, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, is an Anglican parish church. It is in the deanery of Wigan, the archdeaconry of Warrington and the Diocese of Liverpool. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and stands on a hill in the centre of the town.
Tyldesley is a market town in Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, 8 miles (12.9 km) southeast of Wigan and 9 miles (14.5 km) northwest of Manchester. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, the Tyldesley built-up area subdivision, excluding Shakerley, had a population of 16,142.
Mosley Common is a suburb of Tyldesley at the far-eastern edge of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it was anciently a hamlet in the east of the township of Tyldesley cum Shakerley, in the ancient parish of Leigh. The area of Mosley Common in 1747 was 34 acres (14 ha) statute s.
St Oswald's Church is in the village of Lower Peover, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Knutsford. Its benefice is combined with that of St Lawrence, Over Peover.
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St Peter's Church, Bolton-le-Moors, commonly known as Bolton Parish Church, is a Church of England parish church in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The parish church, dedicated to St Peter, is an example of the Gothic Revival style. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II* listed building, having been designated in 1974. St Peter's is an active parish church in the Diocese of Manchester and is part of the Bolton deanery and Bolton archdeaconry.
Shakerley is a suburb of Tyldesley in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It was anciently a hamlet in the northwest of the township of Tyldesley cum Shakerley, in the ancient parish of Leigh. The boundary between Shakerley and Hindsford is the Hindsford Brook. It remains the boundary between Tyldesley and Atherton. Hyndforth Bridge across the brook, was rebuilt in stone in 1629.
The Tyldesley Top Chapel is a chapel in Tyldesley. It is a Grade II Listed building.
The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Church of England parish church in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. It is a member of the Salford & Leigh deanery in the archdeaconry of Salford, diocese of Manchester. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
St John the Baptist's Church is in Market Place, Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the archdeaconry of Salford, and diocese of Manchester. Together with St George's and St Philip's Churches in Atherton and St Michael and All Angels at Howe Bridge, the church is part of the United Benefice of Atherton and Hindsford with Howe Bridge. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
St Stephen's Church is a parish church in Astley, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican church built in 1968 and part of Leigh deanery in the archdeaconry of Salford and diocese of Manchester. The church, together with St George's Church, Tyldesley and St John's Church, Mosley Common is part of the united benefice of Astley, Tyldesley and Mosley Common. Its origins are in Astley Chapel, a chapel of ease of Leigh Parish Church built in 1631 and its successor which was burned in an arson attack in 1961.
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Sacred Heart Church is a Grade II listed redundant Roman Catholic church on Tyldesley Road, Hindsford, Atherton in Greater Manchester, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.
St Joseph's Church is an active Roman Catholic church on Chapel Street in Bedford, Leigh in Greater Manchester, England. It is in the parish of St Edmund Arrowsmith. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.
Christ Church is an active Anglican parish church in Pennington, Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Christ Church serves the parish of Pennington in the Leigh Deanery and Salford Archdeaconry in the Diocese of Manchester. It is a Grade II listed building.
St John's Church is an Anglican church on Mosley Common Road, Mosley Common, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active church built in 1886 and part of Leigh deanery in the archdeaconry of Salford, diocese of Manchester. Together with St George and St Stephen, is part of the united benefice of Astley, Tyldesley and Mosley Common.