St Bede's Church is in Appleton Village,

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

, Cheshire, England. It is an active

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

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

Archdiocese of Liverpool The Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool ( la, Archidioecesis Liverpolitana) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the Isle of Man and part of North West England. The episcopal see is Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The archdiocese ...

. 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 church was completed in 1847 and had been designed by Weightman and Hadfield. The land was donated by members of the local Dennett family, who also paid towards the cost of the building, which came to £3,000 (equivalent to £ in ). The church was consecrated on 22 September 1847. In May 1856 the original church bell was consecrated by Revd

Alexander Goss Alexander Goss (5 July 1814 — 3 October 1872) was the second Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Liverpool. Biography Alexander Goss was born at Ormskirk, Lancashire of recusant background, connected on both sides with old Lancashire famili ...

, bishop of Liverpool. This was replaced in 1879 by the present bell, which was blessed by the then bishop of Liverpool, Revd Bernard O'Reilly. In 1922 the church was renovated, and the roof was replaced.

Architecture

St Bede's is built in red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

with a slate roof. Its plan consists of a west tower, a

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 ...

with a clerestory, north and 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 ...

s, a

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 a south porch. The tower has angle

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 and

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

s, and is

crenellated 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 ...

. The windows in the nave are paired lancets, those in the clerestory have

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

heads, and the

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...

in the chancel windows is curvilinear. The entrance to the church is in the tower, and is in Decorated style. Inside the church the arcades are carried on alternate round and octagonal columns. The altar dated 1850 is said to be by A. W. N. Pugin. The large organ is sited under the tower. There is stained glass in the east window, and on the north and south sides of the chancel.

Organ

The original pipe organ was installed by

Gray and Davison Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

in 1848 at a cost of £200. It was overhauled and electrified in the 1930s. This organ was replaced in 1979 by a two- manual organ made by George Benson in 1904 for the Independent Methodist Church in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

. It had been cleaned by Wadsworth in 1937 and was moved here, renovated and installed by J. A. Cundle and Sons of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

at a cost of £3,850. The organ was renovated in the 2000s by Sydney Reeves, aided by a grant from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Bede's Church, Widnes Roman Catholic churches in Cheshire Grade II listed churches in Cheshire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1847 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Cheshire Saint Bede Church Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England 1847 establishments in England

History

Architecture

Organ

See also

References