St Mary and St Cyril's Coptic Orthodox Church, previously known as the Church of St Paul, is a Coptic church in

Stoneycroft Stoneycroft is a district in the east of Liverpool, England and part of the Tuebrook and Stoneycroft and Old Swan wards. Description Stoneycroft is a small residential district of Liverpool located to the east of the city. Liverpool's inner ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. It 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 was designed by

Giles Gilbert Scott Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (9 November 1880 – 8 February 1960) was a British architect known for his work on the New Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral, and de ...

, who also designed the Anglican

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Liverpool, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Liverpool and is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, diocese of Liverpool. The church may be formally re ...

. In 2016 the building was closed with a view to selling it to the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apo ...

. Its Anglican

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

was united with that of St Anne, Stanley. The Coptic Orthodox Youth Society of the

Liverpool Guild of Students Liverpool Guild of Students is the students' union of the University of Liverpool. The guild was founded in 1889, with the building constructed in 1911. The title also refers to the Guild of Students building, which is the centre point of activ ...

is highly involved with the church and frequently takes part in Tasbeha and youth meetings.

History

Church of England

The church was built between 1913 and 1916, and was paid for by H. Douglas Horsfall. The church has been restored three times; in 1955, in 1972 and in 1998–2013.

Coptic Orthodox Church

In 2016 the building was sold to the

Coptic Orthodox The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the Apostolic see, See of Alexandria i ...

Diocese of the Midlands and is now St. Mary & St. Cyril's Coptic Orthodox Church. Fr. Bishoy was priest, before Fr. Peter Farrington was made the new priest in 2023.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed with a concrete core, lined internally and externally with brick. It has stone bands and dressings, and a tiled roof. It 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 ...

and

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 ...

without division, north and south narrow (passage)

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, three north and 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 ...

s, and a large central tower. The tower has a round-arched recess on each side containing round-headed two-light bell openings, which have louvres and Y-

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

. On top of the tower is a pyramidal roof. The southeast corner of the tower is

chamfer A chamfer ( ) 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, fur ...

ed and contains a canted 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 * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

surmounted by a

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 ...

. At the west end are three

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 ...

s in an arched recess; it is flanked on each side by a porch. Each transept has a half-hipped

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 ...

, and contains windows similar to those at the west end. The east wall is blank, and there are four-light windows in the north and south walls of the chancel. The aisles have

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 ...

Interior

The interior of the church is plain, being entirely rendered other than for areas of exposed brick acting as dressings. It is effectively in three bays, each with a square

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: La ...

, which are joined to each other by pointed tunnel vaults. Steps lead up to the chancel, whose south transept contains a chapel, and the north transept an organ loft and

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

. The low chancel wall has a canted

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 ...

at each end. The three- manual

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 in 1916 by Rushworth and Dreaper at a cost of about £1,000 (). The organ case dates from the 18th century and was originally in the former St Paul's Church, which has been demolished. It is decorated with carving by

Grinling Gibbons Grinling Gibbons (4 April 1648 – 3 August 1721) was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle, the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and other London church ...

. In the tower are two bells, which were also moved from the old St Paul's. The older bell dates from 1775, and the newer, larger bell was cast in 1861 in Murphy's Bell Foundry,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. The bells were restored in 1975 at the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

References

Notes Citations

External links

St. Mary & St. Cyril Coptic Orthodox Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liverpool, Church of St Paul Church of St Paul Gothic Revival church buildings in England Grade II* listed churches in Merseyside Church of St Paul Anglican Diocese of Liverpool Church of England church buildings in Merseyside Giles Gilbert Scott church buildings Churches completed in 1916 20th-century Church of England church buildings Coptic Orthodox churches in the United Kingdom