St Mary's Church is in St. Mary's Road,

Grassendale Grassendale is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is in the south of the city, bordered by Aigburth, Garston and Mossley Hill. History The hamlet of Grassendale was acquired by Robert de Blackburn, the lord of the manor of Garston, ...

, a district 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 ...

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 deanery of Liverpool South Childwall, the archdeaconry of Liverpool, and the

diocese of Liverpool The Diocese of Liverpool is a Church of England diocese based in Liverpool, covering Merseyside north of the River Mersey, part of West Lancashire, part of Wigan in Greater Manchester, Widnes and part of Warrington and in Cheshire (it was origi ...

. 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 built in 1852–53 to serve the residents of the newly created private estates of Grassendale Park and Cressington Park. It was designed by

Arthur Hill Holme Arthur Hill Holme (1814–1857) was a Liverpool architect and brother of builder Samuel Holme, who served as Mayor of Liverpool in 1852–1853. Life and career Holme trained with Thomas Rickman in Birmingham and won the design competition for ...

. The foundation stone was laid on 2 September 1852, and the church was consecrated in July 1854 by the

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...

. It was designed to provide seating for 700 people.

Architecture

Exterior

St Mary's is constructed in stone, and has a roof of hexagonal slates. Its architectural style is Decorated. The plan consists of a broad

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 ...

without

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, wide north and south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

s, a short

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 ...

with a canted

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

, a southeast

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 ...

, and a northwest tower with a broach spire. The windows along the sides of the nave have two lights, and at the west end is a three-light window flanked by two-light windows. The transepts have 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, three-light windows to the north and south, and two-light windows on the east and west sides. The central window in the chancel has three lights, and the flanking windows have two lights. The windows contain Geometric

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 ...

. The tower has diagonal buttresses, and an entrance on the north side above which is a

hood mould In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin ''labia'', lip), drip mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a ''pediment''. This mouldin ...

, its stops carved with heads. In the stage above are two-light windows and roundels with

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of crockets to a bishop's crosier. Description ...

ogival An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking. Etymology The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...

hoods. In the top stage are two-light bell openings, and on the spire are two tiers of

lucarne In general architecture a lucarne is a term used to describe a dormer window. The original term french: lucarne refers to a dormer window, usually set into the middle of a roof although it can also apply to a façade lucarne, where the gable of t ...

s and a

weathervane 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 ...

Interior

Inside the church, the

laminated Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance, or other properties from the use of the differing materia ...

timber beams of the roof form a flying cross at the crossing. The stained glass includes three windows in the chancel of 1884 by Evans, and the west window of 1953 was designed by

Joseph Edward Nuttgens Joseph Edward (Eddie) Nuttgens (1892 – 1982), in Germany spelt Nüttgens, was a stained glass designer in England who worked mainly on church windows. Early life Nuttgens was born in Aachen, the eldest child of six born to a German tailor ...

. The two- manual pipe organ was built in 1903 by

Norman and Beard Norman and Beard were a pipe organ manufacturer based in Norwich from 1887 to 1916. History The origins of the company are from a business founded in Diss in 1870 by Ernest William Norman (1851–1927). In 1876 he moved to Norwich where he we ...

. When the church was built, it had 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 six bells, but these were rehung for chiming in 1938.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grassendale, St Mary's Church Churches in Liverpool Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool Grade II listed churches in Merseyside Anglican Diocese of Liverpool Church of England church buildings in Merseyside Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Merseyside Churches completed in 1853

History

Architecture

Exterior

Interior

See also

References