Crosby United Reformed Church Explained

Crosby United Reformed Church
Location:Great Crosby, Merseyside
Pushpin Map:Merseyside
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Map Caption:Location in Merseyside
Country:England
Coordinates:53.4875°N -3.0343°W
Osgraw:SJ 321 999
Website:Crosby United Reformed Church
Former Name:Great Crosby Congregational Church
Founded Date:1885
Status:Church
Functional Status:Active
Heritage Designation:Grade II
Designated Date:26 March 1973
Architect:Douglas & Fordham
Architectural Type:Church
Style:Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking:1897
Completed Date:1898
Materials:Sandstone, green slate roofs

Crosby United Reformed Church, originally Great Crosby Congregational Church, is on the corner of Eshe Road and Mersey Road in Great Crosby, a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It is an active congregation of the United Reformed Church. The authors of the Buildings of England series, referring to the architecture of the church, say "The whole is very satisfying".

History

The church was founded in 1885 and initially met in a schoolroom. On 22 May 1897 the foundation stone for the present church was laid and the first service was held on 15 September 1898. The church was designed by Douglas and Fordham and it was attached to the schoolroom. In 1972 it became a United Reformed Church.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in snecked red sandstone with green slate roofs in Gothic style. Its plan consists of a nave, low north and south aisles, a southeast porch, large north and south transepts, a west chancel, and a southwest choir vestry with the organ-house above it. Over the nave is a flèche. The windows are lancets, apart from larger windows in the north transept and at the west end. The latter window is flanked by corner buttresses, each of which is surmounted by an octagonal turret. To the north the church is linked to a large gabled hall which was originally the schoolroom.

Interior

The roof is a hammerbeam. The reredos consists of a First World War memorial dated 1920 with gesso work by Joseph Lawton. Forming part of this memorial is the glass in the east window which is by Shrigley and Hunt. In the north aisle two windows contain stained glass by Edward Frampton.

See also