Description

THORNTON

30/0/10007 HEYS STREET
12-APR-06 Thornton Cleveleys
SACRED HEART CATHOLIC CHURCH

II
Roman Catholic church, 1899, by Pugin & Pugin. Rock-faced coursed dressed sandstone with red sandstone ashlar dressings beneath slate roofs. Chancel at west end under single roof with two side chapels, each under its own roof. Square tower at east end. Nave under single roof.
EXTERIOR: A rectangular chancel with a pitched roof, angle buttresses, dripmoulding, a rose window with curvilinear tracery at the west end, and stone-mullioned pointed-arched windows with curvilinear tracery in the north and south walls. Side chapels buttress the chancel; each has a lean-to roof, dripmoulding and a single buttress, that to the north has stone-mullioned pointed-arched windows with quatrefoil in the west and north walls, that to the south has similar window in west wall only. North wall of nave has buttresses, dripmoulding and stone-mullioned pointed-arched windows with curvilinear tracery. East wall of nave to north of tower has angle buttress, two small round-headed windows and larger stone-mullioned pointed-arched window above with dripmould and curvilinear tracery. Tower has buttresses partly built into east wall of nave at two corners and angle buttresses at other two corners. North and south faces of tower are identical and consist of a pointed-arched doorway beneath a dripmoulding. The doors are of two leaves and pivot on hinges attached to the inside of the tower wall. Above is a narrow round-arched window beneath a dripmould and above that a stringcourse marking the base of the belfry. The east face of the tower has a narrow central recess topped by a decorated dripmould beneath which a white stone statue of Christ stands on a hexagonal plinth. Two narrow rectangular windows flank the statue. Above is a stone-mullioned pointed-arched window with geometrical tracery beneath a dripmould. The belfry has two pointed-arched belfry windows in each face beneath a continuous hoodmould. Above is a corbel table supporting a string course upon which stands the crenallated top of the tower. East wall of nave to south of tower has angle buttress, stone-mullioned window to ground floor and above a stone-mullioned pointed-arched window with curvilinear tracery beneath a dripmould. South wall of nave similar to north wall but with single-storey sacristy and modern extension attached.
INTERIOR: Chancel at west end of church separated from nave by tall pointed-arched opening. Rose window at west end of chancel with stained glass, clear leaded glass in side windows. Plain semi-octagonal timber roof. Reredos beneath rose window, circular millstone altar table and marble pulpit. Side chapels separated from nave by narrow pointed-arch openings, each have stained glass windows at west end behind a reredos. North side chapel also has a stained glass side window and a marble font. Marble communion rail with gates for access to chancel and side chapels runs across width of nave. Pulpit in matching marble to communion rail. Nave has two stained glass windows in north wall and one in south wall. South wall also has doors to sacristy. At the east end is a fine balustraded timber balcony on arched supports running the full width of the nave. The organ is centrally placed on the balcony against the east wall. Seating in the nave and balcony is provided by open back benches. The nave roof timbers are arched-braced collar beamed truss supporting strutted king post. The chancel has a barrel-vaulted roof.
Presbytery adjacent to church by same architect and in same materials as the church. It is not considered to be of architectural or historic interest and is thus not considered to be of listable quality.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE:

A fine and relatively unaltered Roman Catholic church designed by Pugin & Pugin showing some good distinctive features. It merits listing.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26670930

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

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)