St Cuthbert's is an

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 ...

church in

Lytham Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...

, Lancashire, England. It was built 1834–1835, replacing a previous church on the same site. It is an active

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

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 ...

. Since 1971 it has been designated a 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 current church is the third to be built on the site. A church was built in 1770, replacing an older structure of

cobbles Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

. The 1770 building was in turn replaced by the current structure, built in 1834–1835 to a design by W. H. Hobden. It was enlarged in 1872 with the addition of 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 ...

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 ...

. In 1882 the same partnership added the north aisle, a

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 ...

and the organ chamber, followed by new seating and a new front to the gallery in 1887. The church was further enlarged in 1909. A memorial chapel was added in 1931 by the successors in the practice,

Austin and Paley 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 ...

. On 13 January 1971 the church was designated a Grade II*

. The Grade II* designation is the second highest of the three grades. St Cuthbert's is an active parish church in the

, the Archdeaconry of Lancaster, and the Deanery of Kirkham.

Architecture

Exterior

St Cuthbert's is constructed of dark red brick with

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) ...

dressings in the

Perpendicular style Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

. 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. ...

. The plan consists of a west tower, 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

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 to the north and south, to the east, a chancel and a vestry north of the chancel. There is a small porch at the west end of the south aisle. The tower has diagonal

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 three stages. Its

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 ...

crenellated 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 ...

. It has two-light belfry louvres and a two-light west window. The aisles have three-light windows in the Perpendicular style and the nave

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

has smaller two-light windows. There are two-light windows in the chancel and the east window is a large three-light window in the

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

style. Like the tower, the aisle, nave, porch and chancel walls are crenellated.

Interior and fittings

The tower houses a ring of eight bells, hung in a wooden frame. The church includes monuments to the local Clifton family. St Cuthbert's stained glass includes a window designed in 1860 by Hardman & Co., an 1874 window depicting the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...

by Morris & Co. as well as work by

Charles Eamer Kempe Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lichg ...

Jean-Baptiste Capronnier Jean-Baptiste Capronnier (1 February 1814 – 31 July 1891) was a Belgian stained glass painter. Born in Brussels, Belgium in 1814, he had much to do with the modern revival of glass-painting, and first made his reputation by his study of the o ...

and

Clayton and Bell Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832� ...

Churchyard and surroundings

The Parish Church of Lytham, St Cuthbert, Sundial - geograph

Approximately south-east of the church porch is a sandstone pedestal

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 ...

, undated, but probably from the 18th century. It has a gadrooned base with a fluted collar. The plate and

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 ...

are copper and the plate is inscribed with "Dum spectes fugio". The sundial has been given a Grade II designation from English Heritage. The churchyard also contains the

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

of nine 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 five 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 ...

. About north of the church there is a monument to the crew of the St Annes-on-Sea lifeboat ''Laura Janet'', who drowned in 1886 in an attempted rescue mission of the ''

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

''. The monument is constructed of red sandstone and, high, sits on a square plinth of two steps. It is carved with an image of the lifeboat and inscribed with the names of the lost crew members. The monument has also been given a Grade II designation. The

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

to the west of St Cuthbert's may date from 1836, and may have been designed by W. H. Hobden. It is constructed of red brick in

Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks ...

with

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 ...

dressings in the

Elizabethan style Elizabethan architecture refers to buildings of a certain style constructed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland from 1558–1603. Historically, the era sits between the long era of the dominant architectural style o ...

. Some features are Jacobean. The vicarage has been designated a Grade II listed building by English Heritage.

References

Citations Sources * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lytham, St Cuthbert's Church Cuthbert's, Lytham Church of England church buildings in Lancashire Diocese of Blackburn Grade II* listed churches in Lancashire Lytham St Annes Paley and Austin buildings