Description

CROSTON CHURCH STREET
SD 41 NE
8/67 Church of St. Michael (Formerly
17.4.67 listed as Church of St Michael
GV and All Angels)
II*

Parish church, probably mainly C16, with some earlier fabric at east end,
and C15 tower: altered in C17, partly rebuilt at various dates in C18,
re-roofed and "beautified" 1823, restored 1866-7. Squared sandstone. West
tower, nave with north and south aisles under same roof, chancel with north
and south aisles. Massive square 4-stage tower, mostly embraced by nave,
with angle buttresses and embattled parapet with corner and intermediate
pinnacles, has deep moulded pointed-arched west door with hoodmould
terminating in carved heads, above this an arched 4-light window with
moulded surround (probably C16 but containing later tracery), 3-light
belfry louvres with intersecting tracery and hoodmoulds; clockfaces on the
north and south sides; and looplights to an internal vice in the south west
corner. Nave with aisles externally divided by buttresses into 5 bays, has
large 4-light windows, almost semi-circular headed, with restored
intersecting tracery, and hoodmoulds; 1st bay on north side has a very wide
moulded 4-centred arched doorway with leaf spandrels and square hoodmould
on the centre of which a small shield displays the Hesketh arms; above this
a low 4-centre-headed window of 4 round-headed lights with hollow
spandrels, flanked at sill level by carved armorial shields; and a
battlement above inscribed: "THIS CHURCH WAS NEW ROOF'D AND BEAUTIFYD AD
1823". On south side 2nd bay has a gabled porch with diagonal buttresses
and straight side parapets, an almost semi-circular-headed arched doorway
moulded in 2 orders, and inner 4-centred arched doorway with moulded
surround. North chancel aisle (Becconsall chapel) has two 3-light windows
in the side and one in the end; south chancel aisle (chantry chapel of St.
John the Baptist) has a priests door with 4-centred head, two 3-light
windows in the side and one at the end. The projecting bay of the chancel
has a 5-light pointed arched east window with intersecting tracery, and on
the south side a smaller square-headed window with 3 cinquefoil-headed
lights and perpendicular tracery above. Interior: lofty 4-bay nave, with
5th bay at west end formed by north and south arches of tower: nave arcade
of relatively low pointed arches chamfered in 2 orders springing from
octagonal columns, the caps and springing evidently altered and
reconstructed; flat-pitched roof of 6 bays with moulded beams on carved
wall brackets (similar to aisles); tower arches on north and south sides
similar to those of nave but of 3 orders, but arch to nave springing from
much greater height. Chancel arch (modern) of 2 orders springing from
shafts with moulded caps; chancel aisle arcades rebuilt. In chancel,
remains of an aumbry in the north wall, and of a double piscina in the
south wall, this with a carved capital of a shaft, possibly C13; at west
end, hexagonal font dated 1663 with carved geometricised quatrefoil panels,
on 6-shafted pedestal; and over south door a hatchment. Reference: VCH
lancs VI pp. 82-85.

Listing NGR: SD4900918394

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17530997

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)