The Church of St Clare is on the corner of Arundel Avenue and York Avenue in the Sefton Park area 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 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 I

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 ...

, and 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 ...

and the Pastoral Area of Liverpool South. It is the only Grade I listed Roman Catholic church in the Archdiocese of Liverpool. Sharples and Pollard consider it to be "one of the most imaginative churches of its date in the country".

History

The church was built in 1888–90 and paid for by the brothers Francis and James Reynolds, who were cotton brokers, at a cost of £7,834 (). The architect was

Leonard Stokes Leonard Aloysius Scott Stokes (1858 – 25 December 1925) was an English architect and artist. Leonard Stokes was born in Southport (then in Lancashire) in 1858 the son of Scott Nasmyth Stokes, a school inspector. He trained in London and tra ...

, the godson of Francis Reynolds. It is considered to be Stokes' "first really outstanding ecclesiastical design".Howell, Peter, ‘Stokes, Leonard Aloysius Scott (1858–1925)’, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 200

accessed 8 October 2008 The Cornerstone, foundation stone was laid on 25 March 1889, the church was consecrated on 3 June 1890 and opened for worship on 20 July of that year. The contractors for the building were Morrison and Sons of

Wavertree Wavertree is a district of Liverpool, England. It is a ward of Liverpool City Council, and its population at the 2011 census was 14,772. Located to the south and east of the city centre, it is bordered by various districts and suburbs such as ...

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in buff-coloured brick with Storeton stone bands and dressings, and is in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. Its roof is of slate. The plan of the church consists of a single vessel with a small north

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 ...

, long and low north and south chapels at the east end, and two porches, one at either side of the west end. Along the south wall are

confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but si ...

s under a lean-to roof. The west face is simple with a large seven-light window. The porches are

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 ...

d; over the north doorway is a

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

containing a statue of St Clare and in the corresponding position in the south porch is a statue of St Francis. The south chapel, the Sacred Heart Chapel, has its own

saddleback roof A saddleback roof is usually on a tower, with a ridge and two sloping sides, producing a 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 ...

and four round-headed five-light windows. The north chapel is the

Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as ...

and has a large west window of seven lights. The east face of the church is also simple and contains a short wide nine-light window, the outer two lights on each side being blind. The transept is gabled with one three-light window and a stair turret with a conical roof which gives access to the organ loft. In the angle of the nave and transept is a small octagonal turret with copper

flèche Flèche or Fleche may refer to: *Flèche (architecture), a type of church spire *Flèche (cycling), a team cycling competition *Flèche (fencing) The flèche is an aggressive offensive fencing technique used with foil and épée. Background ...

Interior

Inside the church are internal

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 which are pierced to form narrow passage aisles. The buttresses are linked by arches which support balconies. The interior of the church has ten bays with a wagon roof. The high altar dating from 1890 consists of a large

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...

which contains paintings and relief sculptures by

Robert Anning Bell Robert Anning Bell (14 April 1863 – 27 November 1933) was an English artist and designer. Early life Robert Anning Bell was born in London on 14 April 1863, the son of Robert George Bell, a cheesemonger, and Mary Charlotte Knight. He studied ...

and

George Frampton Sir George James Frampton, (18 June 1860 – 21 May 1928) was a British sculptor. He was a leading member of the New Sculpture movement in his early career when he created sculptures with elements of Art Nouveau and Symbolism, often combinin ...

. The stone pulpit was designed by Stokes and consists of four sides of a hexagon with openwork

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 font is shaped like a

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...

and is made of

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

with a copper cover. The

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

altar rails, erected in 1933, stretch across the width of the nave and the chapels. Around the church the Stations of the Cross are oil paintings which were installed in 1892 at a cost of £300. In the chapels are statues of religious subjects by Mayer and Company of Munich. The oldest stained glass in the church is in the Sacred Heart Chapel, the Sacred Heart window, which was installed in 1906. The

Catherine of Siena Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church ...

window in the chapel was erected in 1912. The stained glass in the east window of the church, depicting the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

, was installed in 1908. The organ loft is situated above the Lady Chapel. The organ was built in 1892 by Steele & Keay of

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. ...

and was renovated in 1920 by

Henry Willis & Sons Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries. Five generations of the Willis family served as principals of th ...

. Nave of St Clare's RC church, Liverpool.jpg, Nave Altar of St Clare's RC church, Liverpool.jpg, Altar Pulpit of St Clare's RC church, Liverpool.jpg, Pulpit

Presbytery

The two-storey presbytery adjoining the church was also designed by Stokes and it is a Grade II listed building. It is built in brick with a slate roof and runs from the north of the chancel. Sharples and Pollard consider that the curved hoodmoulds over the door anticipate the Art Nouveau style.

References