St Saviour's Church is in the village of

Cuerden Cuerden is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. It is situated between Bamber Bridge and Leyland, and had a population of 77 in 2001.Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

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 Leyland, the archdeaconry of Blackburn and the

diocese of Blackburn The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lancas ...

. 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, an ...

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 1836–37 to a Romanesque design by the Lancaster architect

Edmund Sharpe Edmund Sharpe (31 October 1809 – 8 May 1877) was an English architect, architectural historian, railway engineer, and sanitary reformer. Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, he was educated first by his parents and then at schools locally and in ...

. It was one of Sharpe's first commissions and one of his early churches in Romanesque style. The plan for the church was signed on 9 May 1836 by Sharpe, its estimated cost being £1,360 (equivalent to £ in ). The church was paid for mainly by public subscription. The foundation stone was laid on 28 July 1836 by Robert Townley Parker of Cuerdon Hall, who gave the land for the church. Townley Parker also gave £200 towards the cost of the church. As first built, it contained 450 seats. It was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on 3 October 1837 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 C ...

. In 1886, the

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. Ove ...

and

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 withi ...

s were added in a similar style by

Thomas Harrison Myres Thomas Harrison Myres FRIBA (1842 – 3 December 1926) was an English railway architect who designed stations and ancillary buildings for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway lines that were opened between 1880 and 1883, including several o ...

. The foundation stone for this extension was laid on 17 July 1886, and the church was re-consecrated on 10 February 1887 by the

Bishop of Manchester The Bishop of Manchester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition)'', Church House Publishing (). The current bishop is David Walker w ...

Architecture

St Saviour's is constructed in local

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 Welsh

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof and red ridge tiles. Its plan consists of a five- bay

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 transepts, and a chancel with a semicircular

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''. In ...

. At the west end is a tower consisting of a two-stage square base, a two-stage octagonal drum and a spire. Internally is a gallery supported on cast iron columns, decorated with the Royal coat of arms. On the walls are monuments to the Townley Parker family. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

dates from the early 20th century and consists of an octagonal bowl supported by angels and a bronze cover with a figure of

St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. The two-

manual Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual * Instruction manual (gaming) * Online help Other uses * Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ * Manual (band) * Manual transmission * Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...

organ was built in 1889 by Alexander Young.

Churchyards

The main churchyard contains the

Commonwealth war graves The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

of three British service personnel of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and two of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and its churchyard extension three war graves of British soldiers of World War I.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuerden, Saint Saviours Church Church of England church buildings in Lancashire Grade II listed churches in Lancashire Romanesque Revival church buildings in England Churches completed in 1837 19th-century Church of England church buildings Churches completed in 1886 Diocese of Blackburn Edmund Sharpe buildings Thomas Myres buildings Buildings and structures in South Ribble

History

Architecture

Churchyards

See also

References