St Mary's Church, Northop Hall is a
redundant church
A redundant church, now referred to as a closed church, is a church building that is no longer used for Christian worship. The term most frequently refers to former Anglican churches in the United Kingdom, but may also be used for disused churche ...
within the village of
Northop Hall
Northop Hall is a village and Community (Wales), community near Connah's Quay in Flintshire, Wales. Located to the east of Northop, near the A55 road, A55 North Wales Expressway, the village is largely residential in character. At the United Kin ...
,
Flintshire
Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...
, North Wales.
The church was built 1911–12 of a design by L.W. Barnard of
Cheltenham
Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...
, a prolific
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
. The original design was to include a tower, but this was never fully built. A rather abbreviated top was only added in 1962.
Of particular note are the barrel ceiling and the
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
which is of outstanding quality. The instrument was built in 1931 by Messrs.
Rushworth & 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. In the 1950s it absorbed Wilkinson, the ...
,
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 ...
, and the opening recital was given by Dr. Middleton, then
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
at Chester Cathedral. By utilising the church's reverberant acoustics, the organ's power is perfectly matched to the building into which it has been installed. To mark the 75th anniversary of its construction, well-attended organ recitals were given in 2006. The choristers of
St. Asaph Cathedral also sang evensong in the church that year, accompanied by John Hosking on the organ.
The church is now redundant following closure in 2019. It is currently for sale and likely to be either maintained or demolished due to it not being a listed building.
References
External links
The Parish of Northop, Northop Hall and Sychdyn
Churches in Flintshire
Churches completed in 1912
20th-century Church in Wales church buildings
{{wales-Anglican-church-stub