Christ Church, Croft

Christ Church, Croft
Christ Church, Croft, from the west
Christ Church, Croft Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°26′15″N 2°32′36″W / 53.4374°N 2.5433°W
OS grid reference	SJ 640,936
Location	Lady Lane, Croft, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Christ Church, Croft
History
Consecrated	29 November 1833
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	9 August 1966
Architect(s)	Edward Blore
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1832
Completed	1833
Construction cost	£2,667
Administration
Parish	Croft with Southworth
Deanery	Winwick
Archdeaconry	Warrington
Diocese	Liverpool
Province	York
Clergy
Rector	Revd Dr C J Stafford

Christ Church is in Lady Lane, Croft, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Winwick, the archdeaconry of Warrington, and the diocese of Liverpool. Its benefice is united with that of Newchurch.^[1] The church is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.^[2] It was a Commissioners' church, having received a grant towards its construction from the Church Building Commission.^[3]

History

The church was built between 1832 and 1833 to a design by Edward Blore.^[4] A grant of £1,457 (equivalent to £120,000 in 2015)^[5] was given towards its construction by the Church Building Commission.^[3] Its total cost was £2,667. The church was consecrated on 29 November 1833 by the Bishop of Chester.^[6]

From 1839 until 1892, the rector of Croft with Southworth was Thomas Penyngton Kirkman, who in addition to his ministerial work was also a mathematician, for whom Kirkman triple systems are named.^[7]

Architecture

Christ Church is constructed in red sandstone with slate roofs. Its plan consists of a five-bay nave, a short chancel, and a steeple at the southwest corner. The tower is square with angle buttresses, a doorway on the east side, lancet windows on the south and west faces, and bell openings consisting of twin louvred lancets. The summit of the tower broaches into a hexagonal drum with louvred lucarnes, above which is the spire, also containing lucarnes. All the windows in the church are lancets.^[2]

Inside the church is a small west gallery. Also present are panels inscribed with the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer.^[4] The reredos is in coloured marble and Caen stone. The stained glass in the east window is by Mayer of Munich. It depicts the Good Shepherd flaked by Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The other windows are by Shrigley and Hunt.^[6]

See also

• List of Commissioners' churches in Northeast and Northwest England
• Listed buildings in Croft, Cheshire

References

1. Christ Church, Croft w Southworth, Church of England, retrieved 15 December 2011
2. Historic England. "Christ's Church, Croft (1329750)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
3. Port, M. H. (2006), 600 New Churches: The Church Building Commission 1818–1856 (2nd ed.), Reading: Spire Books, p. 334, ISBN 978-1-904965-08-4
4. Pollard, Richard; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006), Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 164–165, ISBN 0-300-10910-5
5. UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2016), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
6. History, Newchurch and Christ Church, Culcheth and Croft, retrieved 15 December 2011
7. Biggs, N. L. (1981), "T. P. Kirkman, mathematician", The Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society, 13 (2): 97–120, doi:10.1112/blms/13.2.97, MR 608093.