St Ambrose Church, in Widnes

Widnes

Widnes is an industrial town within the borough of Halton, in Cheshire, England, with an urban area population of 57,663 in 2004. It is located on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, was built in 1882 to a design by James Francis Doyle

James Francis Doyle

-Buildings:* Albion House Liverpool.* Royal Insurance Building, Liverpool.* St Ambrose.* Outpatient department, Liverpool Royal Infirmary. * St Barnabas, Mossley Hill.* Grand Hotel -References:...

 of Liverpool (c. 1840–1913).

Widnes in the 1870s was a rapidly growing chemical town, with all the problems associated with such growth. Living conditions were poor, houses were overcrowded, brawling was common, drunkenness was rife and murders were not unknown. It was felt that more churches were needed, and on May 13, 1878, it was decided to build a 320-seat church in Halton View on a 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) site presented by Mr. John Bibby, land-owner. The Page Lane Mission was built first and opened on February 16, 1879.

It was soon evident that a larger church would be required and accommodation was sought for 520 people. St Ambrose Church was designed by James Francis Doyle, whose principal area of activity was in Liverpool and the Wirral. At least part of the cost was funded by the Incorporated Church Building Society. The foundation stone was set by the Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

, the Rt. Hon. R. Assheton Cross

R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross

Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross, GCB, GCSI, PC, FRS , known before his elevation to the peerage as R. A. Cross, was a British statesman and Conservative politician...

 M.P., during a service conducted by the Vicar of Farnworth

Farnworth

Farnworth is within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is located southeast of Bolton, 6 miles south-west of Bury , and northwest of Manchester....

 on October 8, 1879. St Ambrose was opened on Monday March 28, 1881, with the 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...

 unfinished. The consecration

Consecration

Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...

 took place on December 6, 1883, when the building was finally paid for. The total cost was £5150, which did not include the cost of the many gifts to the church.

The floor plan of the church is in the traditional gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 style, oriented east-to-west, with a nave and two side aisles, a chancel and an apse

Apse

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

-shaped east end. The nave has five arches supported on pillars, with clerestorey windows above the arches. The chancel roof is the same height as the nave. The vestry and organ are off the chancel on the south side. A copy of the original ground-plan as Doyle designed it can be found on the Church Plans Online site.

The octagonal vestry shown in outline on the plans was eventually built, but the tower was not, and the only evidence in the building itself that there was to have been a tower is the “blind” arch on the north side of the chancel, and the “blind” door at the east end of the north aisle. At a later (unknown) date, a lean-to was added to the octagonal vestry to house a toilet and storage for tools for churchyard maintenance. The outside door to the tools store has since been sealed up, presumably due to vandalism.

In more recent years alterations have been made to both the interior and the exterior to bring it further into line with contemporary uses and legal requirements. In the 1980s pews were removed and carpet laid at the back of the building to create a space for circulating around the font. In 2001 a disabled access ramp in brick and york stone was added to a design by Robin Wolley, architect, of Ruthin. In 2008 the rear arch on each side of the nave was enclosed to create a kitchen on the south side and toilets (including one accessible for disabled people) on the north side, to a design by Snape Cowing Architects of Ormskirk.

Vicars of St Ambrose

The parish has had 12 vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

s to date:

• Sherley Allan Spooner M.A. 1884-88
• George Antonius Le Bert M.A. 1888-98
• Thomas Simcox Lea D.D. 1899-1904
• Herbert Payne Hiscoke M.A. 1904-13
• Willian Robert Johnson M.A. 1913-19
• George Gordon Dawson M.A., B.D. (Cantab.), Ph.D. (London), Surrogate 1919-32
• Joseph Hignett Banks M.A. 1932-55
• Sydney Thomas Goddard 1955-59
• Laurence Hoyle 1959-61
• Norman Francis Lionel Williams 1961-78
• Paul Terence Jones B.A. 1978-2000
• Jeremy Paul Leffler B.Ed., B.Th. 2000-

External links

• St Ambrose on www.findachurch.co.uk