| Late 19th century redbrick church Church. 1881. J M and H Taylor. Brick with clay tile roof. Cruxiform plan with a crossing tower and an undercroft beneath chancel and transepts. Free Gothic style with vernacular details. 3-bay nave (without aisles) has weathered buttresses, 2, 3 or 4-light mullion and transom windows with cusped heads, and overhanging eaves. A polygonal baptistry projects at the west and a gabled porch on south. The transepts have a 5-light window (north) and a circular window with mullions and tracery (south). 5-light west window to 3-bay chancel which is flanked by a vestry with a hipped roof and an organ chamber with an outshut roof. The undercroft with its mullion windows adds to the height and splendour of the building. Large crossing tower, roofed in two stages has a stepped-in timber-framed bell stage and a square swept spire with gabled dormer openings. Bold diagonal buttresses and a conically roofed octagonal stair turret contribute to the romantic appearance. Interior: faced in polychromatic brick to great effect. Sturdy roof structure employs arch-braced roof trusses springing from carved stone corbels. Double-chamfered brick crossing arches and an octopartite vault. The arches are supported at the east by short freestanding polished granite columns creating squinches. The whole interior (including undercroft) is rich in craftsmanship in glass, iron, stone and ceramics. Glass is by Heaton Butler and Bayne; mosaic by Salviati and Co. of Venice. One of the Taylors' most imaginative works showing individuality and opulence in most aspects of design and craftsmanship. E Joseph Sidebotham, local philosopher and industrialist, was the patron. |
