St Michael's Church, Aigburth
Encyclopedia
St Michael's Church, Aigburth, also known as St Michael-in-the-Hamlet Church, is in St. Michael's Church Road, St Michael's Hamlet
, Liverpool
, Merseyside
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building. The church contains much cast iron
in its structure, and its citation in the National Heritage List for England states it has "one of the earliest and most thorough uses of industrial materials in a major building". It is an active Anglican parish church
in the diocese of Liverpool
, the archdeaconry of Liverpool, and the deanery of Toxteth and Wavertree. Its benefice
is united with those of Christ Church, Liverpool, and St Andrew, Liverpool.
to St Mary's Church, Walton. The church was built by John Cragg, the owner of the Mersey Iron Foundry, Tithebarn Street, Liverpool. Cragg bought the land from the Earl of Sefton
, and built the church at his own expense, its final cost being £7,865 (£ as of ). Cragg was a keen churchman and was always looking for new ways to use cast iron. He had already starting building St George's Church, Everton, using cast iron in its structure, and he planned to use more of it in St Michael's. Here it was used in the construction of the walls and for the pinnacle
s. The cast iron in the walls formed a skeleton, the base of which was filled with slate
, and the remainder with brick. The brick was stucco
ed. Internally he used it for the columns, for the tracery
of the ceiling, and for mouldings
. Cragg worked with the architect Thomas Rickman
on the design of both churches, although the relationship between the two was not always happy. The church was consecrated
by the Bishop of Chester on 21 June 1815.
By the late 1860s the structure of the building had deteriorated so much that it was in danger of demolition. However one of the churchwarden
s, Colonel Thomas Wilson organised a restoration
of the church, the architects being W. and G. Audsley
. The box pew
s were removed and replaced with benches providing a centre aisle
as well as the two side aisles, the floor was relaid, and a new heating system was installed. Further improvements were made in the following years. In July 1898 St Michael's became a parish in its own right. By this time the building was not large enough for its congregation, and in 1897 a faculty
had been obtained to extend the church. The north wall was removed and replaced further out, thereby increasing the width of the church. A new porch was built, a vestry
was created in the former porch, and access to the west gallery was moved from the north to the south side. The cost for this was £2,950 (£ as of ), which was raised by the parishioners.
In 1902 the organ was moved from the west gallery to a position north of the chancel. Following the First World War, the money collected to celebrate the church's centenary in 1915 was used instead was used for improvements to the church. It was used to redecorate the interior, for the provision of a clock in the tower, and for a memorial window in the porch. In 1957 the Jubilee Chapel was created at the east end of the south aisle to commemorate the diamond jubilee
of the Mothers' Union
. A further renovation took place in 1984 when the pipe organ, that had been damaged by water, was replaced with an electronic organ. The oak reredos
was removed from the sanctuary and the lower tier of stained glass was replaced in the east window. The gallery was converted into a choir vestry with a glass screen overlooking the interior of the church.
Its cost was £8,000. It was consecrated
on 21 June 1815 and was the second of Liverpool's "cast iron churches". In 1875 it was restored
by the W. & G. Audsley
. In 1898 it became a parish in its own right. In 1900 the north aisle was doubled in width.
s, battlement
s and pinnacle
s. The roofs are of slate slabs in a cast-iron framework. The plinth
consists of a cast iron frame with slate covering. Its plan consists of a six-bay nave with clerestory
, north and south aisles (the north aisle being wider than the south), a west tower, and a short chancel with a vestry to the north and a chapel to the south. The aisles, clerestory and tower have three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery
. The tower also has paired three-light bell-openings, diagonal buttress
es, an arcaded
, embattled
parapet and pinnacles. Inside is a six-bay arcade with cast iron columns. The windows are also made from cast iron. An organ occupies the east bay of the north aisle and there is a west gallery.
. The east window in the chapel dates from 1916 and is by Shrigley and Hunt
. In the porch is a First World War
memorial window with glass by H. Gustave Hiller
. The font
is in marble
. In the church is a marble tablet to the memory of the astronomer
Jeremiah Horrox
who was born nearby.
St Michael's Hamlet
St Michael's Hamlet, also known as St Michael-in-the-Hamlet or simply St Michael's, is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by Dingle, and Mossley Hill....
, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
, England. It 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 I listed building. The church contains much cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
in its structure, and its citation in the National Heritage List for England states it has "one of the earliest and most thorough uses of industrial materials in a major building". It is an active Anglican 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 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...
, the archdeaconry of Liverpool, and the deanery of Toxteth and Wavertree. Its benefice
Benefice
A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...
is united with those of Christ Church, Liverpool, and St Andrew, Liverpool.
History
The church was built between 1813 and 1815 as a chapel of easeChapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
to St Mary's Church, Walton. The church was built by John Cragg, the owner of the Mersey Iron Foundry, Tithebarn Street, Liverpool. Cragg bought the land from the Earl of Sefton
William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton
William Philip Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton , also known as Lord Dashalong, was a sportsman, gambler and a friend of the Prince Regent.-Personal life:...
, and built the church at his own expense, its final cost being £7,865 (£ as of ). Cragg was a keen churchman and was always looking for new ways to use cast iron. He had already starting building St George's Church, Everton, using cast iron in its structure, and he planned to use more of it in St Michael's. Here it was used in the construction of the walls and for the pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
s. The cast iron in the walls formed a skeleton, the base of which was filled with 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...
, and the remainder with brick. The brick was stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
ed. Internally he used it for the columns, for the 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:...
of the ceiling, and for mouldings
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
. Cragg worked with the architect Thomas Rickman
Thomas Rickman
Thomas Rickman , was an English architect who was a major figure in the Gothic Revival.He was born at Maidenhead, Berkshire, into a large Quaker family, and avoided the medical career envisaged for him by his father, a grocer and druggist; he went into business for himself and married his first...
on the design of both churches, although the relationship between the two was not always happy. The church was consecrated
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...
by the Bishop of Chester on 21 June 1815.
By the late 1860s the structure of the building had deteriorated so much that it was in danger of demolition. However one of the churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
s, Colonel Thomas Wilson organised a restoration
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
of the church, the architects being W. and G. Audsley
George Ashdown Audsley
George Ashdown Audsley was an accomplished architect, artist, illustrator, writer, decorator and pipe organ designer who excelled in many artistic fields but is perhaps best known today for having designed the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia.Born September 6, 1838 in Elgin, Scotland, apprenticed...
. The box pew
Box pew
Box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th century.-History in England:...
s were removed and replaced with benches providing a centre aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
as well as the two side aisles, the floor was relaid, and a new heating system was installed. Further improvements were made in the following years. In July 1898 St Michael's became a parish in its own right. By this time the building was not large enough for its congregation, and in 1897 a faculty
Faculty (instrument)
A faculty is a legal instrument or warrant in canon law, especially a judicial or quasi-judicial warrant from an ecclesiastical court or tribunal.In the Roman Catholic Church, it is "the authority, privilege, or permission, to perform an act or function...
had been obtained to extend the church. The north wall was removed and replaced further out, thereby increasing the width of the church. A new porch was built, a vestry
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....
was created in the former porch, and access to the west gallery was moved from the north to the south side. The cost for this was £2,950 (£ as of ), which was raised by the parishioners.
In 1902 the organ was moved from the west gallery to a position north of the chancel. Following the First World War, the money collected to celebrate the church's centenary in 1915 was used instead was used for improvements to the church. It was used to redecorate the interior, for the provision of a clock in the tower, and for a memorial window in the porch. In 1957 the Jubilee Chapel was created at the east end of the south aisle to commemorate the diamond jubilee
Diamond Jubilee
A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...
of the Mothers' Union
Mothers' Union
Mothers’ Union is an international Christian charity that seeks to support families worldwide. Its members are not all mothers or even all women, as there are many parents, men, widows, singles and grandparents involved in its work...
. A further renovation took place in 1984 when the pipe organ, that had been damaged by water, was replaced with an electronic organ. The oak reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
was removed from the sanctuary and the lower tier of stained glass was replaced in the east window. The gallery was converted into a choir vestry with a glass screen overlooking the interior of the church.
Its cost was £8,000. It was consecrated
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...
on 21 June 1815 and was the second of Liverpool's "cast iron churches". In 1875 it was restored
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
by the W. & G. Audsley
George Ashdown Audsley
George Ashdown Audsley was an accomplished architect, artist, illustrator, writer, decorator and pipe organ designer who excelled in many artistic fields but is perhaps best known today for having designed the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia.Born September 6, 1838 in Elgin, Scotland, apprenticed...
. In 1898 it became a parish in its own right. In 1900 the north aisle was doubled in width.
Structure
The church is built in brick with many cast iron components; these include the parapetParapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
s, battlement
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
s and pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
s. The roofs are of slate slabs in a cast-iron framework. The plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
consists of a cast iron frame with slate covering. Its plan consists of a six-bay nave with clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
, north and south aisles (the north aisle being wider than the south), a west tower, and a short chancel with a vestry to the north and a chapel to the south. The aisles, clerestory and tower have three-light windows with Perpendicular 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:...
. The tower also has paired three-light bell-openings, diagonal buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es, an arcaded
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
, embattled
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
parapet and pinnacles. Inside is a six-bay arcade with cast iron columns. The windows are also made from cast iron. An organ occupies the east bay of the north aisle and there is a west gallery.
Fittings and furnishings
The stained glass in the east window is in early Gothic Revival styleGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
. The east window in the chapel dates from 1916 and is by Shrigley and Hunt
Shrigley and Hunt
Shrigley and Hunt was the name of an English firm which produced stained glass windows and art tiles.The business began in the 1750s when Shrigley's was a painting, carving and gilding firm in Lancaster, Lancashire....
. In the porch is a First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
memorial window with glass by H. Gustave Hiller
H. Gustave Hiller
Henry Gustave Hiller was an artist based in Liverpool, England. He studied at the Manchester School of Art and is mainly known as a designer of painted gesso reliefs and stained glass.-Stained glass:...
. The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
is in marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
. In the church is a marble tablet to the memory of the astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
Jeremiah Horrox
Jeremiah Horrocks
Jeremiah Horrocks , sometimes given as Jeremiah Horrox , was an English astronomer who was the only person to predict, and one of only two people to observe and record, the transit of Venus of 1639.- Life and work :Horrocks was born in Lower Lodge, in...
who was born nearby.