Christ Church, Ince-in-Makerfield, is in the district of Ince-in-Makerfield

Ince-in-Makerfield

Ince-in-Makerfield, usually known just as Ince is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England.Ince is contiguous to Wigan and serves as a residential suburb of Wigan, Being divided locally by a train line into two separate areas - Higher Ince and Lower Ince,...

, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

, England. It is an active Anglican

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

 parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 in the deanery of Wigan, the archdeaconry of Warrington, and the diocese of Liverpool

Anglican Diocese of Liverpool

The Diocese of Liverpool is a Church of England diocese based in Liverpool, covering Merseyside north of the River Mersey along with West Lancashire, Wigan in Greater Manchester, Warrington and Widnes in Cheshire...

. Its benefice is combined with that of St Catherine, Wigan

St Catharine's Church, Scholes

St Catharine's Church, Scholes, is in Lorne Street, Scholes, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Wigan, the archdeaconry of Warrington and the diocese of Liverpool. It benefice is united with that of Christ Church, Ince-in-Makerfield...

. The church has been designated by English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

 as a Grade II listed building.

History

The church was built between 1861 and 1864 to a design by the Lancaster

Lancaster, Lancashire

Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...

 architect E. G. Paley

Edward Graham Paley

Edward Graham Paley, usually known as E. G. Paley, , was an English architect who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, in the second half of the 19th century.-Education and career:...

.

Architecture

Christ Church is constructed in rock-faced stone with ashlar

Ashlar

Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...

 dressings, and has a slate

Slate

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...

 roof. Its plan consists of a five-bay

Bay (architecture)

A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...

 nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

, north and south transept

Transept

For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...

s, a chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

 ending in a polygonal apse

Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...

, north and south vestries

Vestry

A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....

, and a porch at the west end. To the east of the north transept is a turret

Turret

In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...

. In the nave there are two-light windows containing plate tracery. Above the porch at the west end is a four-light window with Geometric tracery

Tracery

In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...

, and a small single-light window above it. The transepts contain wheel windows

Rose window

A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...

with plate tracery. The windows in the chancel have two lights with Geometrical tracery. The stained glass in the west window, dating from 1893, is by F. Holt.