St Paul's Church, Boughton

St Paul's Church overlooks the River Dee in Boughton, Chester, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building,[1] and, before its closure, was an Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of that diocese.[2] In the series Buildings of England, the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner stated that he regarded it as "the boldest of Douglas' church designs".[3]

This article is about St. Paul's Church in Boughton, Chester, England. For other churches named St. Paul's, see St. Paul's Church (disambiguation).

St Paul's Church, Boughton
St Paul's Church, Boughton, from the southeast
St Paul's Church, Boughton
Location in Cheshire
OS grid referenceSJ 418 665
LocationChester, Cheshire
CountryEngland
DenominationAnglican
ChurchmanshipOpen Evangelical Charismatic
History
StatusParish church
Architecture
Functional statusDefunct
Heritage designationGrade II*
Designated10 January 1972
Architect(s)John Douglas
Architectural typeChurch
StyleGothic Revival
Completed1905
Closed2016
Specifications
MaterialsRed brick with stone dressings; timber framing
Slate roofs
Administration
ParishSt Paul, Chester
DioceseChester
ProvinceYork

It ceased to be a church in 2016, when it was closed by the Diocese, as it was found to be in very bad repair.[4] It was named by the Victorian Society as one of the Top Ten Heritage Buildings at Risk for 2016.[5]

History

The first church on the site was built in 1830 in stuccoed brick. Its style was Italianate with round-headed windows and a northwest campanile. The architect was William Cole the younger.[6] It was virtually rebuilt in 1876 to a design by John Douglas, who added the south aisle in 1902, and the spire in 1905.[7]

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in red brick with stone dressings and in timber framing with brick and plaster panels. The roof has grey and grey-green slates. Its plan consists of a through nave and chancel of four bays plus an apsidal bay, a south aisle, a west porch and a broach spire at the west end.[1] Most of the windows are lancets.[7]

Interior

Pevsner commented that the strength of the interior lies in its timber-work.[8] The walls are decorated with stencilled patterns in the Arts and Crafts manner.[1] The wrought iron screen is by Douglas. The stained glass dated 1887 in the north aisle is by Kempe and that in the baptistry is by Frampton. The rest of the stained glass was made by Morris & Co. Two of the windows were designed by Burne-Jones, others by Morris himself, and the latest windows dating from 1925 to 1927 are by Henry Dearle. The reredos is a war memorial dated 1920 by H. G. Hiller. Also in the church is a monument from the older church dated 1845.[7] The three-manual organ was built by James J. Binns of Leeds.[9]

See also

References

Citations

  1. Historic England, "Church of St Paul, Chester (1375705)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 10 April 2015
  2. St Paul, Chester, Church of England, retrieved 27 February 2011
  3. Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 35.
  4. Historic England, "Former Church of St Paul, Boughton - Cheshire West and Chester (UA) (2289510)", Heritage at Risk register
  5. https://victoriansociety.org.uk/news/top-ten-endangered-buildings-list-highlights-neglect-outside-south-east
  6. Thacker, A. T.; Lewis, C. P. (eds.) (2005), Churches and religious bodies: Modern parish churches, A History of the County of Chester: Volume 5 part 2: The City of Chester: Culture, Buildings, Institutions, Victoria County History, pp. 159–162, ISBN 978-1-904356-03-5, retrieved 4 June 2009CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  7. Hartwell et al. 2011, p. 280.
  8. Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 172.
  9. "NPOR N04290", National Pipe Organ Register, British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 1 July 2020

Sources

  • Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hubbard, Edward (2003) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09588-0
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.