Drive Methodist Church, Reading Room, former school-chapel, and wall, gateposts and railings, Lytham St Anne's, Lancashire

Description

621-1/0/10030

LYTHAM ST ANNES
CLIFTON DRIVE SOUTH (southwest side)
Drive Methodist Church, Reading Room, former school-chapel, and wall, gateposts and railings

08-MAR-10

II
A Methodist school-chapel, church and reading room situated on the corner of Clifton Road South and Eastbank Road and built between 1877-1901 with some later alterations. The chapel-school was designed by Maxwell and Tuke of Bury and the church was designed by Herbert Isitt.

MATERIALS: the church and reading room are constructed of coursed yellow sandstone beneath green pitched slate roofs, the school-chapel is built of red brick with stone dressings beneath a pitched slate roof.

PLAN: the group of buildings are irregular in plan.

EXTERIOR: the building's east elevation overlooks Clifton Drive South. The church has a tall central gable with a slightly lower projecting gabled porch containing the main entrance to the ground floor on the right and a tower with a spire to the left. The gable has a row of five lancet windows to the ground floor beneath a large arched window with geometrical tracery and a narrow lancet to the apex with a stone cross finial above. Continuous hoodmoulds rise above all the windows. A tall spire rises from a tower of four stages. The lowest stage has a three-light window with tracery on its east face, whilst the south face has an entrance porch of a similar design to that on the east facade. The tower's second stage has tall lancets to three faces and the third stage is plain apart from the termination of angle buttresses. The tower's fourth stage has traceried windows to all faces, above which is gable moulding. Spirelets rise from each corner of the tower and hide the rising point of a tall, slender octagonal spire. West of the tower the church's south facade has three bays separated by buttresses and two projecting gabled transepts, both with canted bay windows to the ground floor (part of the 1907 enlargement) with twin traceried windows in the gable above and behind and a central round window to each apex. At the church's south west corner is the vestry, also part of the 1907 enlargement. It is relatively plain and has a door and two pointed-arched windows in its south face and three rectangular windows in its west face. The church's large arched west window incorporates four lights with tracery above and a hoodmould. The north west corner of the church is plain and largely obscured by later additions. The north facade of the church is also largely obscured by later additions and the proximity of the original chapel. Only its east end is visible, where it consists of a projecting staircase gable with a central window and three bays separated by buttresses. The upper parts of gabled transepts matching those on the south side are visible, but the lower parts are largely obscured by adjoining buildings.

The east elevation of the reading room to the right of the church has two two-light pointed-arched windows above which is a centrally positioned circular window. Both left and right returns have four rectangular windows and there is an entrance with a later added porch on the left return. All windows have decorated tracery.

The former school chapel is partly masked by later buildings but its north elevation shows it to be of red brick on a stone plinth. There are five bays separated by brick pilasters; the slightly lower eastern bay has two narrow round-arched windows while the remaining bays have larger round-arched windows. There is a stone sill band carried along the full length of the elevation and a dentilled brick band at the springing point of the window arches between the pilasters along the western four bays. The window arches are picked out in alternating red and yellow bricks above which are dentilled and moulded bricks below the eaves. The east elevation gable is largely obscured by the reading room but the upper part of a large arch executed in alternating red and yellow bricks is visible.

The church's stone boundary wall, gateposts and railings running along Clifton Drive South and Eastbank Road are also included in the listing.

INTERIOR: The church's chancel has a pointed barrel-vaulted roof and a large stained glass west window. Timber wall panelling to sill height sits below and extends along part of the chancel's north and south walls. The north wall has a tall arched opening, which contains an organ made by F.F Walcker of Ludwigsburn, Wurttburg, Germany, in 1894. The south wall contains a door to the vestry. The chancel has a low raised stage inserted in the 1990s, a repositioned iron chancel rail with wooden handrail, and choir stalls to either side. The pulpit is of pitched pine on a carved stone dais accessed by stone steps with iron balusters and a wooden handrail. There are two shallow transepts to each side of the church separated by an arch supported on its inner side by a column consisting of an octagonal base, polished granite shaft and crocket capital. The north transepts each have two windows with stained and leaded glass. The south transepts by contrast have inserted canted bay windows of seven-lights which have truncated the windows above matching those in the north transepts. All have stained glass. The church has a wide nave with three matching windows with stained glass to both north and south walls. Pews are of pitched pine with two main blocks flanking a central aisle at the widest part of the church and three blocks at the narrower eastern part of the church. The nave roof is a keel-like wagon ceiling supported on deep plaster coving in the style of a hammer-beam roof. At the east end of the church there is a raked timber gallery supported on thin columns. Modern plate glass with doors has been inserted beneath the gallery, thus separating the main body of the church from its east end and creating an entrance lobby. At each end of the lobby are doors: that to the south giving exit via the base of the tower, and that to the north giving exit through the east porch and access to the carved timber staircase that leads to the gallery. The five-light east window is above the gallery and incorporates tracery and stained glass. The lobby area is lit by five lancets.

The reading room has stained glass windows and timber wall panelling to approximately half height with a matching timber fire surround and mantleshelf. The hammer-beam roof is supported by braces sat on stone corbels.

Panelled timber doors with stained glass glazing lead from the porch to a vestibule where half-glazed doors give access into the former school-chapel with an inserted stage at its west end. There is timber wall panelling to window sill height and two blocked round-arched windows at the east end. Visible roof timbers consist of tie beams with angled struts strengthened by twisted metal braces. A slim decorated ceiling panel runs east-west between the central roof timbers.

HISTORY: the Drive Methodist Church has evolved over a 30 year period, creating a complex which reflects the congregation's growth. The original Wesleyan school-chapel was built in 1877 to a design by Maxwell and Tuke of Bury who later went on to design the Grade I listed Tower Buildings at Blackpool. This chapel soon proved to be too small and it was replaced by the present church built between 1890-93 to a design by the architect Herbert Isitt of Bradford. In 1901 a reading room was attached to the east face of the original chapel, architect unknown and in 1907 the church, which originally provided accommodation for 500 worshippers, was enlarged at its western end to cater for 720. The Ordnance Survey map of 1911 shows that by this time the chapel and reading room were described as a `Lecture Hall' and that additional buildings including a caretaker's house had been added to the western side of the chapel and north west side of the church. During the late 1960s a porch and large single-storey meeting room was attached to the west side of the church and the south side of the additional buildings shown on the 1911 map. In about 1970 a porch was added to the chapel and reading room.

Internal alterations have included the insertion of a World War I memorial window, the insertion of a glass screen below the gallery in the 1970s, and the removal of some pews to facilitate the installation of chancel staging in the 1990s.

SOURCES:
Eyre,K. Chapel in the Dunes: The Centenary History of the Drive Methodist Church, St Anne's 1877-1977. pp11-19.

REASONS FOR DECISION: The Drive Methodist Church and its associated school-chapel and reading room is designated at Grade II for the following principle reasons:

* The church is an accomplished example of Nonconformist church design that possesses good external massing and detailing together with a well-executed interior of interesting and unusual mixed character that contrasts with the architecturally plainer original school-chapel on the site

* The juxtaposition of school chapel, reading room and church survive as the focal point of Methodist religious life in St Anne's and exemplify well the development of Nonconformist religion in the town over the past 130 years and particularly in the late C19 and early C20

* Along with the nearby Grade II listed St Thomas' Church and St Joseph's Church and the Grade II* United Reformed Church, The Drive Church makes a significant contribution both to the local street scene and the wider townscape by occupying a prominent and imposing location on the town's main thoroughfare.

Listing NGR: SD3216628495

Reasons for Listing

REASONS FOR DECISION: The Drive Methodist Church and its associated school-chapel and reading room is designated at Grade II for the following principle reasons:

* The juxtaposition of school chapel, reading room and church survive as the focal point of methodist religious life in St Annes and exemplify well the development of Nonconformist religion in the town over the past 130 years and particularly in the late C19 and early C20

External Links

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