Christ Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

place of worship situated on Church Street in the Stannington area of the City of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England. It is a

Commissioners' church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplied ...

or “Million Church” as it was built partly with money provided by the Church Building Act of 1824. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The construction of Christ Church was completed in 1830 with the architects Woodhead & Hurst of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

overseeing the building work. Architectural plans were drawn up in 1827 and the foundation stone was laid on 16 October 1828 by Thomas Richard Ryder, Vicar of Ecclesfield. The dignitaries at the ceremony included William Hurst, one of the architects who by then had become Mayor of Doncaster; Doncaster history.co.uk.
List of Lord Mayors of Doncaster. after the stone laying the party retired to the Peacock Inn for afternoon tea. The final cost of the church was £3,000 with part of the funding coming from the second parliamentary grant of the Church Building Act which was approved in 1824. However a substantial donation came from Eliza and Ann Harrison of

Weston Hall Weston Hall is a 17th-century manor house in Weston, Northamptonshire. The house was owned by the Sitwell family's ancestors from 1714 to 2021. It is a Grade II* listed building. History The manor house dates to the 17th century, and is believ ...

, daughters of Thomas Harrison an eminent Sheffield sawmaker. At the time of its construction Christ Church was within the Chapelry of Bradfield which was within the Bishopric of

Ecclesfield Ecclesfield is a village and civil parish in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) north of Sheffield City Centre. Ecclesfield civil parish had a population of 32,073 at the 2011 Census. Ecclesfield wards ...

, Stannington did not become a separate parish until 1843. Initially Christ Church did not have a vicar but used a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

, Mr. William Gill who lived in Bradfield, three miles to the north-west. Mr Gill conducted a morning service along with his other duties for six years but resigned in 1836 when he was asked to perform an evening service as well. These events led to the building of a much needed

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

adjacent to the church as well as the provision of a

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

of £100 per annum. In 1843 Stannington became a separate parish with Christ Church as the parish church; William Gill became the first vicar with the stipend increasing to £129 per annum. The church has had several notable vicars over the years: Samuel Parkes was in office for 28 years between 1879 and 1908, Francis Augustine Stebbing was the longest serving vicar between 1916 and 1963, the last

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Canon Philip West had, until very recently, been Christ Church's vicar for over 20 years.''"Stannington"'', Stannington Local History Group, no ISBN, Page 28/29, Gives history of church. In September 2014, Tim Fletcher became

Priest in charge A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent. Such priests are not legally responsible for the churches and glebe, but simply hold a ...

upon the retirement of Philip West. On 23 January 2023 the Revd Nicholas Lattimer became Priest in charge following the resignation of Tim Fletcher the previous year. Stannington Church, Who's Who
Tim Fletcher Priest in charge.

Architecture and features

The church is built from coarse

gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for pa ...

blocks in a symmetrical

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. There is a low square bell tower with a

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

on top and a three-faced clock and louvres below. Among the eye catching exterior features are the seven

embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

s which stand on top of corner piers. The

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

at the front entrance to the churchyard was erected in July 1940 by Rebecca Nichols in memory of her husband John who died in December 1914. The graveyard was enlarged in 1919 but is now almost full with very little space for new graves. The exterior of the church has had very few changes while the interior has been re-ordered several times. There was originally seating for 1,000 people but this is now greatly reduced, two long side balconies which went across the windows making the church very dark were removed in 1964 by the Reverend Trevor Hudson. A third balcony still remains along the back wall; at one time it housed the organ and the choir sang from there. The original font was brought from Bradfield by the Reverend Gill in 1927. It was replaced by the Angel Font in July 1945 with the original then installed as a feature in the churchyard; unfortunately it was stolen in 2001.''"Around Stannington"'', Stannington Local History Group, , Gives history of church and interior. A major renovation of the interior was undertaken in 1992/93 when the pews were removed and replaced by chairs; a new floor was laid and carpeted throughout and the church was rewired. At the same time a new vestry was added, the

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

was brought to the front of the church and the

baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...

at the rear was enlarged to form a

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

. A large open space was also created at the front of the church by the removal of the choir stalls. The interior also has a wooden roll of honour, which lists the 70 people of the parish killed in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. British Listed Buildings.
Gives details of architecture.
Gives details of war memorial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stannington, Christ Church Grade II listed buildings in Sheffield Grade II listed churches in South Yorkshire History of Sheffield Churches in Sheffield Churches completed in 1830 19th-century Church of England church buildings Church of England church buildings in South Yorkshire Commissioners' church buildings 1830 establishments in England

History

Architecture and features

See also

References