The Church of St James the Great is in Church Road, Haydock, a former mining community, now part of the

Metropolitan Borough of St. Helens The Metropolitan Borough of St Helens is a local government district with borough status in Merseyside, North West England. The borough is named after its largest settlement, St Helens. It is one of the six boroughs of the Liverpool City Region ...

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 ...

, in the North-west of England (postcode WA11 0NJ). 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

Diocese of Liverpool The diocese of Liverpool is a diocese of the Church of England in North West England. The diocese covers Merseyside north of the River Mersey, south-west Lancashire, western Greater Manchester, and part of northern Cheshire. Liverpool Cathedral ...

, the Archdeaconry of St. Helens and Warrington and the Deanery of Winwick.

History

Haydock National School was opened on this site in 1837, Church services being conducted in the main classroom by clergy from Ashton. (It now forms a meeting room connecting the Church to the adjacent Vicarage). By 1861 the rising population of Haydock made this provision inadequate. It was hoped to build a large parish church in the centre of the community, but to solve the immediate problem it was decided to build a chapel attached to the School, and connected to it by large double doors. This chapel, the original church, was designed by W. and J. Hay and built by George Harris of St. Helens. It was

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 ...

on 11 December 1866 . At the laying of the foundation stone the dedication was stated to be to St. Alban, but at the consecration of the building as the Parish Church of the newly founded Parish the dedication was made to St. James the Great. By 1888 this had become too small for the growing population. Rather than building a new church on another site it was decided to build onto the existing chapel and in 1889 plans were approved for a substantial extension. The foundation stone for this was laid on 5 October 1889 and the newly extended church was opened on 25 July 1891, although it was not consecrated until June 1892. The original church became the

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

of the enlarged church. The extension was designed by

Douglas and Fordham John Douglas (11 April 183023 May 1911) was an English architect who designed over 500 buildings in Cheshire, North Wales, and northwest England, in particular in the estate of Eaton Hall. He was trained in Lancaster and practised through ...

. In 1929–31 due to structural problems, 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 ...

, sanctuary and west wall were rebuilt and the spire was removed. Between 1988 and 1990 the church was reordered, providing a spacious chancel area and a new chapel, The chapel is dedicated to St. Alban,

Present day

The parish stands in the

Traditional Catholic A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

of the Church of England. As it rejects the

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

, the parish receives

Alternative Episcopal Oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction "are unable to receive the ministry of w ...

from the

Bishop of Beverley The Bishop of Beverley is a Church of England Provincial Episcopal Visitor. The title takes its name after the town of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Originally a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of York, the bishop's role wa ...

(currently

Glyn Webster Glyn Hamilton Webster (born 3 June 1951) is a retired British Anglican bishop who was the Bishop of Beverley in the Church of England from January 2013 to January 2022. He was previously the canon chancellor (a canon residentiary) and Acting Dea ...

Architecture and fittings

The original church was small and built of brick. It now forms the

of the church. The newer part of the church is

timber framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...

with

brick nog Brick nog (nogging or nogged, beam filling) is a construction technique in which bricks are used to fill the gaps in a wooden frame. Such walls may then be covered with tile, weatherboards, or rendering, or the brick may remain exposed on the in ...

ging on a

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 ...

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

. This style was chosen because its flexibility would give protection against possible mining

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

. The liturgical east end was originally timber framed but this was rebuilt in brick and render in 1929–31. The interior of the church contains much dark-stained oak. The most striking feature of the Church is the hanging

rood A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church. Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixio ...

dated 1952, designed by Edward Hines of the

Warham Guild __NOTOC__ The Warham Guild was an Anglican organization of craftsmen and artisans, founded to "augment the studies of the Alcuin Club and the directives of ''The Parson's Handbook''" with "the making of all the 'Ornaments of the Church and of the Mi ...

and carved by Jethro Harris. In the Lady Chapel is a

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

dated 1999 made from

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s from the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Barsana in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. In St. Alban's Chapel is an icon-style crucifix commissioned from a Romanian artist. The present organ is on a raised platform over the entrance to the Church. Plaques nearby state that it was originally built by Harrison and Harrison for Lochend United Free Church, Cambeltown, in 1922, being rebuilt and modified for St. James's by David Wells of Liverpool in 1986. Some photographs of the interior can be found on the church's website stjamesthegreat.org.uk.

External features

The churchyard contains the war graves of eight soldiers of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The Miners' Memorial in the style of a continental wayside cross stands near the entrance to the Church, over the common grave of many of those killed in the Woodpit mining disaster of 1878.

Activities

The church is in the

high church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

tradition of the Church of England and runs services on Sundays and some weekdays, arranges baptisms, weddings and funerals and runs a number of parish groups.

History

Present day

Architecture and fittings

External features

Activities

See also

References

Further reading