St Paul's Church, West Derby Explained

St Paul's Church, West Derby
Pushpin Map:Merseyside
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Map Caption:Location in Merseyside
Location:Town Row, West Derby, Liverpool, Merseyside
Country:England
Coordinates:53.4292°N -2.9018°W
Osgraw:SJ 402 929
Status:Parish church
Functional Status:Active
Heritage Designation:Grade II
Designated Date:14 March 1975
Architect:Pugin and Pugin
Architectural Type:Church
Style:Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking:1914
Completed Date:1915
Materials:Sandstone, slate roof
Diocese:Liverpool
Vicar:Revd Sean Kirwin
Priest:Revd Kieran O'Grady

St Paul's Church is in Town Row, West Derby, a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is an active Roman Catholic parish church in Pastoral Area 5 of the Archdiocese of Liverpool. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

History

The church was built in 1914–15, and designed by Pugin and Pugin. The interior was reordered in 1973–75.

Architecture

Exterior

St Paul's is built in red sandstone, and has a blue slate roof. Its plan consists of a four-bay nave with a northwest baptistry, north and south aisles, a two-bay chancel with flanking chapels, and a southwest tower. The church is designed in a free Perpendicular style. The tower is short, with irregularly-placed stair windows, two four-light bell openings, and a cornice. It is surmounted by a steep pyramidal slated roof. On the west front are two pointed entrances, flanked by buttresses, with a niche containing a statue above them. Over this are two lancet windows and a higher four-light window. Along the sides of the church are four cross-gables, each with a three-light window below. The east end of the chancel is canted, with two-light windows containing Geometric tracery. In the chapels are two-light north and south windows.

Interior

Inside the church the arcades are carried on round columns with moulded capitals. There is a west gallery, beneath which is a narthex. The marble and alabaster fittings were designed by Pugin and Pugin. During the reordering the reredos was cut down, the altar, which contain mosaic inlays, was brought forward, and the pulpit was converted into a lectern.

See also