Church of St Michael, Kirkham
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St Michael's Church is in the town of
Kirkham Kirkham may refer to: Places *Kirkham, Lancashire, England *Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England *Kirkham, New South Wales, Australia *Kirkham (HM Prison), a prison in Lancashire, England *Kirkham Priory *Kirkham House Other uses *Kirkham (surname) K ...
, Lancashire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. 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 in the diocese of Blackburn, the archdeaconry of Lancaster and the deanery of Kirkham.


History

The earliest evidence of a church on the site is in 684 AD. Kirkham was one of the oldest foundations in Lancashire and one of only three listed in the Doomsday Book as existing in Amounderness. This hundred was part of the vast possessions of Roger earl of Poictou and the church was held by the Priory Church of St. Mary, Lancaster. William of York (died 1154) issued a charter to return the church to Shrewsbury Abbey. In a later charter, dated 5 December 1280, King
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
conveyed the advowson of Kirkham to the abbot and convent of Vale Royal Abbey which held the church until the dissolution in the reign King
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
. It was then given to the dean and chapter of Christ Church, Oxford. The first recorded vicar, in May 1239, was Will de Ebor, also described as "Cancus de Ebor" and said to have been appointed by Richard
Duke of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall is a title in the Peerage of England, traditionally held by the eldest son of the reigning British monarch, previously the English monarch. The duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in England and was established by a ro ...
. The first christenings recorded in the parish register are those of Thomas Sharrock and Henry Cowbron in March 1539. Porter also notes that the monumental inscriptions in the church ".. are not either very ancient or very numersous", with the oldest being that of Richard Clegg, M.A., made vicar on 22 June 1666, let into the floor of the vestry.Porter, J. MRCS, LSA (1878) ''History of the Fylde of Lancashire'', Fleetwood and Blackpool, W. Porter and Sons Publisher, Chapter VII – The Monuments and Inscriptions in the Church and Churchyard at Kirkham. The fabric of the present church dates from 1822 when the nave, designed by
Robert Roper Robert Roper (1757–1838) was an English architect who practised from an office in Preston, Lancashire. His works include at least two new country houses, Claughton Hall, and Leagram Hall, both of which have since been demolished. He designed a ...
, an architect from
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
, was built. The cost of the nave was £5,000 (). In 1843–44 the steeple, designed 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 ...
, and built in Longridge stone, was added at the west end. The foundation stone for this was laid on 21 November 1843 by Thomas Clifton of Lytham Hall. In 1853 the chancel was rebuilt, probably by
Joseph Hansom Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal, ''The Builder'', in 1843. Career Ha ...
, to make the altar visible from the nave. The north and south galleries were removed in the middle of the 20th century and the area under the west gallery has been turned into a separate room. In 2004 it was discovered that the spire had developed structural problems because the iron ties reinforcing the stones had corroded. An appeal to repair the spire was launched.


Architecture


Exterior

The church is built in sandstone
ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
with
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. ...
roofs. Its plan consists of a six-
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
nave without aisles, a three-bay chancel with aisles which are now used as vestries. To the north and south gabled porches project slightly from the second bays from west. The other bays have
lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...
s between gabled buttresses. The nave is in Early English style and the chancel is in Decorated style. The steeple is in Perpendicular style. It has angle buttresses and is in four stages. The parapet is
embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
and
pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...
s rise from the corners. The octagonal spire is recessed and rises to a height of . It is crocketed, has three tiers of two-light lucarnes and is supported by four flying buttresses. The authors of the '' Buildings of England'' series consider it to be "perhaps the finest work of Edmund Sharpe".


Interior

The roof of the nave is painted red and is divided into squares by ribs, at whose intersections are
gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...
bosses of different designs. 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 ...
is located halfway down the north side of the nave. It is
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
and consists of an octagonal gabled and crocketted bowl on an octagonal column. The wooden
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, access ...
is massive, measuring approximately from the base to the top. To the east of the south door are churchwardens'
box pews A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in chu ...
carved with
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 ...
details and poppyheads. They bear a brass plate dated 1770. In the nave are monuments to the memory of the Cliftons of Lytham Hall, including one to Thomas Clifton who died in 1688. A wall tablet commemorates Richard Bradkirk of Bryning Hall who died in 1813 and another monument is to Henry Rishton Buck, a lieutenant aged 27 who died at the Battle of Waterloo. Behind the Lady Chapel altar is a folding
reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...
dated 1900 which was made by Kempe and moved from Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The brass
chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...
dated 1725 was made by Brown of Wigan. The organ dates back to 1769 when it was built by Glyn Parker of Salford. Later modifications were made by R. W. Nicholson of Bradford (at an unrecorded date), by
Harrison & Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the R ...
in 1905, and by the Pendlebury Organ Company of Cleveleys in 1979. There is 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 eight bells which were cast by Charles & George Mears at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1846.


External features

In the churchyard is a
sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
made of sandstone dating probably from the 18th century with a 20th-century top. It consists of a fluted circular column without a base set into a circular slab and capped with a Tuscan
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
which carries a round bronze dial and a
gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was excavated at the astronomical site of Taosi is the ol ...
. It is listed at Grade II. Also in the churchyard and listed Grade II are a tomb chest to Edward and Dorothy King dating from the early 19th century, a tomb chest to Edward and Elizabeth Birley dating from around 1836, and a monument in the style of a Gothic tabernacle to William Birley and others dating from the middle of the 19th century. The churchyard and its extension contain the war graves of three service personnel of World War I, and ten of World War II.


See also

* Grade II* listed buildings in Lancashire * Listed buildings in Kirkham, Lancashire * List of architectural works by Edmund Sharpe


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkham, Saint Michaels Church Church of England church buildings in Lancashire Grade II* listed churches in Lancashire Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Lancashire Churches completed in 1822 Churches completed in 1844 Churches completed in 1853 19th-century Church of England church buildings Edmund Sharpe buildings Diocese of Blackburn Michael's, Kirkham