Church of St Silas, Blackburn
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St Silas' Church is in Preston New Road, Blackburn,
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 Blackburn with Darwen, 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 Lancast ...
. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England 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

St Silas' was designed in 1878 by the Lancaster architects
Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, which went under vario ...
, but building did not start until 1894. The first phase was completed by 1898, this did not include the tower. The church cost £10,000 (equivalent to £ in ), and provided seating for 609 people. The tower, measuring in height, was not added until 1913–14. At the same time a porch was built, but the planned spire was never added; this phase cost over £6,000. Before the church was built, services had been held from 1846 in a nearby Sunday school, and then in a school built in 1884–85.


Architecture


Exterior

The church is constructed in
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 freestone dressings. The external walls are in yellow sandstone; the internal walls in red sandstone. The roofs are
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. ...
d. Its plan consists of a
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 north and south
aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...
s, a southwest porch, a 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 withi ...
containing the organ chamber, a south transept comprising a chapel, a
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 ...
with a north
vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
, another vestry in the angle between the south transept and aisle, and a west tower. The architectural style is
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
, described in the ''National Heritage List'' as
Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...
, and by the authors of the '' Buildings of England'' series as Decorated. The tower is in three stages, with angle
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 (s ...
es, and a polygonal 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 * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...
at the southwest corner that rises to a level higher than the tower. On the summit of the tower are pierced
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 ...
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
s 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. The tower has a west doorway, above which is a five-light window. In its middle stage are pairs of ogee-headed windows, clock faces, and a frieze of shields. The top stage contains louvred bell openings, one on the south side, and two in pairs on each of the other sides. Along the walls of the aisles are large four-light windows. The porch is tall with an embattled parapet, canted angles, and angle buttresses. Above its moulded entrance arch is a statue of Saint Silas in 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 ...
surmounted by a pinnacle. The transepts contain pairs of square-headed two-light windows, and have embattled parapets. The chancel has a south square-headed two-light window, a seven-light east window, a parapet of blind
quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...
s, and a southeast turret with a spirelet.


Interior

The appearance of the interior of the church is "one of spaciousness, nobility and grandeur imparted by the handling of the proportions". It is "richly furnished in a
high-church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originated ...
fashion". The tower arch is triple-
chamfer A chamfer or 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, fu ...
ed, while the chancel arch and the transept arches are all double-chamfered. The arcades consist of double-chamfered arches carried on square
piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
that are set diagonally. In the chancel are a round-headed
sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...
and piscina. The octagonal
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 1896, and is carved with buttresses and blind tracery. It has a tall wooden 20th-century cover 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. The square
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 ...
also dates from 1896, it was made by Dent and Marshall from Runcorn stone, carved with blind tracery. The alabaster
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 ...
was imported from Italy in 1915, and contains niches, canopies, and statues. The stained glass in two of the windows was made by Morris & Co. in 1908 and 1911. The design of the earlier window is based on cartoons by
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
and Edward Burne-Jones, although both were dead by the time the windows were made. It depicts
Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
and the
Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...
. The later window was designed by J. H. Dearle, and depicts the '' Presentation of Jesus at the Temple''. In addition there is a window designed by Henry Holiday towards the end of his career in 1921–23, which depicts
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
figures, including
David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and
Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...
with angels. The three-
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 1904 by
Harrison and 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 ...
of Durham. It was altered in 1925 by the same firm, and in 1991 by J. Corkhill of
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
. 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, all of which were cast in 1888 by John Taylor and Company of Loughborough.


See also

* Grade II* listed buildings in Lancashire *
Listed buildings in Blackburn Blackburn is a town in Lancashire, England. It contains 72 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, five are listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are ...
*
List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin Paley and Austin was the title of a practice of architects in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England, in the 19th century. The practice had been founded in 1836 by Edmund Sharpe. The architects during the period covered by t ...
* List of ecclesiastical works by Austin and Paley (1895–1914)


References

Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, St Silas' 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 Diocese of Blackburn Paley and Austin buildings Silas Church