John Cragg (1767 – 17 July 1854) was an English

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

who ran a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

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 popul ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, England. He was born in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

(then in the historic county of

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 ...

, now in the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

). His business was the Merseyside Iron Foundry, which was located in Tithebarn Street, Liverpool. Cragg was an enthusiast in the use of prefabricated ironwork in the structure of buildings, and in the early 19th century became interested in building churches. He had been discussing building a church in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, and in 1809 plans had been drawn up for this by J. M. Gandy. This church was never built, but in 1812 Cragg met

Thomas Rickman Thomas Rickman (8 June 17764 January 1841) was an English architect and architectural antiquary who was a major figure in the Gothic Revival. He is particularly remembered for his ''Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture'' ...

, and together they designed the three churches in Liverpool incorporating Cragg's

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

elements. The first of these was St George's Church, Everton (1813–14). The exterior of this church is largely in stone, but the framework of its interior, including the galleries, and the window

tracery Tracery is an architecture, architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of Molding (decorative), moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the s ...

are in cast iron. The ceilings consist of

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. ...

slabs supported by cast iron rafters, which are decorated with cast iron tracery. The second church resulting from this collaboration was

St Michael's Church, Aigburth St Michael's Church, also known as St Michael-in-the-Hamlet Church, is in St. Michael's Church Road, St Michael's Hamlet, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I list ...

(1813–15), Here, in addition to the cast iron framework of the interior, and the window tracery, the

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 ...

battlement 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 ...

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, hoodmoulds, the dado, and other details are also in cast iron. The area around the church, known as

St Michael's Hamlet St Michael's Hamlet, also known as St Michael-in-the-Hamlet or simply St Michael's, is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward (country subdivision), Ward. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by ...

contains five villas containing many cast iron features. The third cast iron church was St Philip's Church (1815–16) in Hardman Street, Liverpool, which was closed in 1882 and demolished. Some cast iron fragments have been incorporated in the fabric of the block of buildings now occupying the site of the churchyard. Cragg died on 17 July 1854, aged 87, and was buried in

St James Cemetery St James's Cemetery is an urban park behind Liverpool Cathedral that is below ground level. Until 1825, the space was a stone quarry, and until 1936 it was used as the Liverpool city cemetery. It has been designated a Grade I Historic Park by H ...

, Liverpool.

References

Citations Sources * 1767 births 1854 deaths Businesspeople from Liverpool People from Warrington {{UK-business-bio-stub

See also

References