St Mary's Church is in Warrington Road, Lower Ince,

Ince-in-Makerfield Ince-in-Makerfield or Ince is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the Ince ward at the 2011 census was 13,486, but a southern part of Ince was also listed under the Abram ward (north o ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in the deanery of Wigan, the archdeaconry of Warrington, and the

diocese of Liverpool The diocese of Liverpool is a diocese of the Church of England in North West England. The diocese covers Merseyside north of the River Mersey, south-west Lancashire, western Greater Manchester, and part of northern Cheshire. Liverpool Cathedral ...

Old church

The previous church was built in 1887, and designed by the

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

architects Paley, Austin and Paley. Two local industrialists donated £5,000 () each to its cost. The church was built in red brick, and was distinguished by having a

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

at the east end by a tall, slender spirelet. It was also unusual in that it had narrow

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

s, forming passages down the sides of the church. The church was built on a coalfield, and subsequently suffered damage from subsidence, which led to its demolition in 1978. Pollard and Pevsner in the ''

Buildings of England The ''Pevsner Architectural Guides'' are four series of guide books to the architecture of the British Isles. ''The Buildings of England'' series was begun in 1945 by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, with its forty-six original volumes pub ...

'' series describe it as having been a "grand" church. Brandwood ''et al'' state that the practice designed a number of urban churches around this time, and they consider that this was the most important, with "real character and individuality".

Present church

The new church was converted from a school built in the 1870s. It contains some

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

dating from about 1889 and from 1923, which was moved from the old church and re-set in the present church.

References

Citations Sources * *

External links

Photographs of the old church before and during its demolition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lower Ince, St Mary's Church Church of England church buildings in Greater Manchester Anglican Diocese of Liverpool Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Greater Manchester Paley, Austin and Paley buildings

Old church

Present church

See also

References

External links