Holy Cross Church is in Woodchurch, an area of

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, Wirral,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

, England. It is an active Anglican

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the

diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Birkenhead. The church 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, a ...

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 fabric of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

originates from the 12th century. However, the circular style graveyard suggests a pre-Norman date, possible Saxon or Romano-British. This early date is supported by the discovery of a portion of a 'Class D' Anglo-Saxon wheel cross at the grounds of the church in the late 19th or early 20th century and placed within the wall of the chancel within the church. The cross probably stood intact in the graveyard until the 17th century when many such crosses were destroyed by the Puritans In the 14th century the south

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

and tower were added. The south aisle was rebuilt in the 16th century and a south porch was added. Heavy diagonal

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es were added to the tower in 1675. The

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

was built in 1766. The north aisle by Hubert Worthington was added in 1964–65.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in stone. The roofs are of slate with copper covering the latest additions to the church. Its plan consists of a nave with north and south aisles, a chancel, vestry and south porch. The tower is in two stages, the lower stage being very high. At the northwest and southwest corners of the tower are massive stepped buttresses. To its southeast is a square stair

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 ...

. Its top is embattled. In the porch is a shallow

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...

and grooves said to be caused by the sharpening of arrows. The windows in the porch contain some

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

stained glass. The north wall of the nave is

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

and the chancel inclines to the north. Built into the wall of the chancel is a Saxon wheel cross. The chancel also contains old stained glass.

Interior

On the north wall of the chancel are three 17th-century wooden epitaph panels containing the coats of arms of local people painted by

Randle Holme Randle Holme was a name shared by members of four successive generations of a family who lived in Chester, Cheshire, England from the late years of the 16th century to the early years of the 18th century. They were all herald painters and gen ...

. The wooden carved bench ends in the chancel date from the 15th century. At the back of the church is a charity board dated 1741. On the west wall are old bread shelves dated 1641 and 1670. On the west wall of the south aisle are the remnants of a

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' ( ...

window by Kempe which was damaged by a bomb in 1941 and restored in 1945. The octagonal font dates from the late 15th century and includes carvings of angels and scenes from the Passion. The floor contains some medieval

encaustic tile Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colours but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern appears inla ...

s. The rood screen, designed by Bernard A. Miller and carved by Alan Durst, was added in 1934. The south window of the chancel is by Kempe, and is dated 1875. A processional cross dated 1937 was carved in ivory by Alan Durst. In the chancel is a monument by W. Spence to Margaret Hughes who died in 1802. The

parish register A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...

s begin in 1571. There is a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of eight bells which were cast in 1971 by the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

. It is said to be one of the lightest rings in Britain. File:Chancel of Holy Cross, Woodchurch 1.jpg, Chancel showing bench ends File:Hocknell memorial, Holy Cross, Woodchurch.jpg, Hocknell epitaph panel File:Rood screen of Holy Cross, Woodchurch 2.jpg, Alan Durst's rood screen File:King David window, Holy Cross, Woodchurch.jpg, Kempe's reconstructed Jesse window File:East window, Holy Cross church, Woodchurch.jpg, East window

Organ Specification

The organ was built in 1938 by

Rushworth and Dreaper Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders, and later general instrument suppliers associated with Paul McCartney based in Liverpool. The manufacturer was founded in 1828 by William Rushworth, operating until 2002. Upon its liquidation, ...

and rebuilt in 1997 by the same firm. It is an electronic extension organ, with 2 manuals and a concave radiating pedal board. There are also confusingly 2 boxes, meaning that the entire instrument is boxed. Listed below are the list of stops, which on the instrument are tabbed, along with a list of where stops have been used again, and which box controls the stop. The number in brackets refers to the stop number below which from which it is borrowed. Swell Compass: Low C- C4 (61 keys) 1. Contra Salicional, 16', LH Box,(22) 2. Stopped Diapason, 8', RH Box, (13+24) 3. Salicional, 8', LH Box, (14+25) 4. Flute, 4', RH Box, (16+26) 5. Flautina, 2', RH Box 6. Larigot, 1⅓', RH Box 7. Twenty Second, 1' LH Box 8. Contra Tromba, 16', RH Box (27) 9. Tromba, 8', RH Box (28) 10. Octave Tromba, 4', RH Box Great Compass: Low C- C4 (61 keys) 11. Bourdon, 16', RH Box (21) 12. Open Diapason, 8', LH Box (23) 13. Stopped Diapason, 8', RH Box (2+24) 14. Salicional, 8', LH Box (3+25) 15. Octave Diapason, 4', LH Box 16. Flute, 4', RH Box (4+26) 17. Dulcet, 4', LH Box 18. Nazard, 2⅔', RH Box 19. Fifteenth, 2', LH Box Pedal Compass: Low C- C1 (30 keys) 20. Acoustic Bass, 32', RH Box 21. Sub Bass, 16', RH Box (11) 22. Salicional, 16', LH Box (1) 23. Octave, 8', LH Box (12) 24. Bass Flute, 8', RH Box (2+13) 25. Salicional, 8', LH Box (3+14) 26. Octave Flute, 4', RH Box (4+16) 27. Tromba, 16', RH Box (8) 28. Octave Tromba, 8', RH Box (9) Accessories and couplers Swell to Great Swell to Pedal Great to Peal 3 thumb pistons each to Great and Swell, giving double touch Pedal 3 toe Pedal pistons 3 toe Swell pistons Reversible toe "Great to Pedal" piston

References

External links

Medieval stained glass information from CVMA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodchurch, Holy Cross Church Churches in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Church of England church buildings in Merseyside Grade II* listed churches in Merseyside English Gothic architecture in Merseyside Gothic Revival architecture in Merseyside Diocese of Chester Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Merseyside