St Michael and All Angels' Church is in Leigh Road,

Howe Bridge Howe Bridge is a suburb of Atherton, Greater Manchester, Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within Lancashire, it is south west of Atherton town centre on the B5215, the old Turnpike trust, turnpike ...

, a suburb of Atherton,

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 Leigh, the archdeaconry of Salford and the diocese of Manchester. Its

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

is united with those of three local churches, St John the Baptist, St George and St Philip, forming a team ministry entitled the United Benefice of Atherton and Hindsford with Howe Bridge. 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, ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The church was built between 1875 and 1877 to a design by the Lancaster architects

Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, England, Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, whi ...

for Fletcher, Burrows and Company, the owners of three collieries in Atherton. It cost £7,000 (), and was paid for by Ralph Fletcher. The church was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 7 February 1877, and became a separate parish in its own right in August 1878. In 1928 the church was reseated at a cost of £1,056 by Austin and Paley, the successors in the Lancaster practice, and in 1938 they added a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

at the east end at a cost of £1,338. The United Benefice was created in 2002.

Architecture

Exterior

St Michael's is constructed in coursed stone with dressings of

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

, and has tiled roofs. Its plan is

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

, consisting of an

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, ...

less

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 north porch and side chapels, 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 ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s, and a

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

with a

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

and aisles, and an attached meeting room and choir vestry. Above the crossing is a two-stage octagonal flèche surmounted by a tall spire. At the west end is a large central

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 (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

flanked by two-light windows with pointed arches. Above these in the

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

are three small

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s. On the north side of the church is a

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

porch with a gable and side windows. To the east of this is a single two-light window and two three-light windows. There are similar windows on the south side of the nave. The chapels have two-light windows on the west and three-light windows on their sides. The transept gables contain a three-light window flanked by buttresses, and two lancets above them. In the clerestory there are three small lancet windows on each side. The large east window consists of five stepped lancets. There are further lancet windows in the rooms adjoining the chancel. Against the north wall of the chancel is a gabled 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 * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

decorated with blind arcading.

Interior

The nave has an open roof, and the chancel is stone- vaulted. The arcades in the chancel are carried on round and cluster piers, and have double-

chamfer A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

ed arches. The

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

is in

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

and dates from 1903. The choir stalls date from 1919 and are in

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

style. The chapel screens are in Decorated style. The chancel screen and the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

date from 1919 and are in wrought and

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

consists of a marble drum with panels. Much of the stained glass is by C. E. Kempe, dating from 1896 and other dates. There is a window in the north transept dated 1922 by Edward Moore. Also in the church are memorials, most of which are to the Fletcher family. The three- manual organ was made in 1932 by Rushworth and Dreaper of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Present day

The church was listed at Grade II* on 31 July 1996. Grade II* is the middle of the three gradings given by English Heritage, and is granted to buildings that "are particularly important buildings of more than special interest". Commenting on its design, the architectural historians Richard Pollard and

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

in the '' Buildings of England'' series say of the architects that "it is one of their most stimulating churches". The church arranges regular services on Sundays and during the week. It has a choir and a Mothers' Union, and runs a Sunday School,

Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

Guides A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

and associated groups.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howe Bridge, St Michael and All Angels Grade II* listed churches in Greater Manchester Church of England church buildings in Greater Manchester Anglican Diocese of Manchester Churches completed in 1877 19th-century Church of England church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Greater Manchester Paley and Austin buildings Austin and Paley buildings Atherton, Greater Manchester 1877 establishments in England