Christ Church is in Christchurch Road, Oxton,

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, Wirral,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in the deanery of Birkenhead, the archdeaconry of Chester, and the

diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

. The church 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, ...

as a designated Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It stands on a sloping site.

History

Christ Church was built between 1844 and 1849, and was designed by William Jearrad. It cost £9,000 to build (equivalent to £ in ), and was opened for worship on 25 February 1849, although it was not

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

until 3 March 1854, this ceremony being conducted by the Rt Revd John Graham,

bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...

. The church provided seating for 1,209 people. Alterations were made at the east end between 1878 and 1880. Using the slope of the ground, two staircases were built to provide extra exits, and two rooms were added at the lower level. In 1881 the organ and the choir were moved from the west gallery, the organ to a new organ chamber in the south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

, and the choir to the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

. The

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, accesse ...

was lowered, and a clock was added to the spire. In 1992 the roof and ceiling were replaced, and the interior of the church was reorganised. The spire was damaged in a storm on Christmas Eve in 1997, and had to be rebuilt. A special edition of ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns, worship songs and inspirational performances in churches of varying denominations from around the UK alongside interviews and stories reflecting how Ch ...

'' was broadcast in November 2018 from the church to mark the centenary of the death of war poet

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen Military Cross, MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of Trench warfare, trenches and Chemi ...

who was a member of the congregation in his youth.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

from local quarries. It is roofed in Welsh

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 ro ...

. The 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'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

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 ...

, north and south

s, a chancel with north and south

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s, and a west tower with a spire. The rooms under the east end of the church are used as an office, kitchen and toilets. The tower is in two stages, with a west door, over which is a

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 ...

and a clock face. The bell openings are paired, and on the tower is a

broach spire A broach spire is a type of spire (tall pyramidal structure), which usually sits atop a tower or turret of a church. It starts on a square base and is carried up to a tapering octagonal spire by means of triangular faces. File:Leicester Cathedral ...

with

lucarne In general architecture a lucarne is a dormer window. The term is borrowed from , which refers to a dormer window, usually one set into the middle of a roof although it can also apply to a façade lucarne, where the gable of the lucarne is aligne ...

s. Along the sides of the nave the bays are divided by

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 (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es rising to

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 main ...

s, and each bay contains a wide

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

. The transepts have two bays and, because of the sloping ground, are in two storeys. There are five windows in each storey, and a

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

in the

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 ...

above. At the corners of the east end are gabled projections containing stairs and a doorway. At the east end, the aisles have paired lancets, and a doorway at the lower level. The chancel east window consists of three stepped lancets, with a rose window above. Below these are triple lancets lighting the lower area.

Interior

Inside the church there are galleries at the west end and in the transepts. Many of the items of church furniture has been given as memorials. These include the

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

, the

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

, and the

. The pulpit was given in memory of two soldiers killed in the First World War, and includes in its carvings two soldiers kneeling at the foot of the cross in a

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

scene. Much of the stained glass, including that in the east window and on the north side of the church, was destroyed by a landmine during the Second World War. The current stained glass in the east window dates from 1951. The stained glass in the windows on the south side of the church was given as memorials; one of them depicts a scene from ''

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is commonly regarded as one of the most significant works of Protestant devotional literature and of wider early moder ...

''.

Organ

The original

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

was built by

Henry Willis Henry Willis (27 April 1821 – 11 February 1901), also known as "Father" Willis, was an English organ player and builder, who is regarded as the foremost organ builder of the Victorian era. His company Henry Willis & Sons remains in bus ...

in about 1860. It had two manuals and was located in the west gallery. It was moved to the south transept in 1881. Here it was acoustically unsatisfactory, and additions, including a third manual, were made by Willis in 1888. Between that date and 1925 a

vox humana The vox humana (; Spanish and ; ; , also a term for a ''celeste'' stop, q.v.) is a short-resonator reed stop on the pipe organ, so named because of its supposed resemblance to the human voice. As a rule, the stop is used with a tremulant, whi ...

stop was added by a builder other than Willis. In 1925 the organ was damaged by fire following a lightning strike. The successors of Willis repaired the damage and made further additions. The organ was not damaged by the land mine, and it was cleaned and overhauled in 1948, again by the Willis firm. A further overhaul took place in 1977 by

Rushworth and Dreaper Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders, and later general instrument suppliers associated with Paul McCartney, based in Liverpool. The manufacturer was founded in 1828 by William Rushworth (organ builder), William Rushworth. In th ...

References

External links

War memorials in Christ Church, Birkenhead
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkenhead, Christ Church Christ Church Church of England church buildings in Merseyside Grade II listed churches in Merseyside Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Merseyside Diocese of Chester Churches completed in 1849 1849 establishments in England