The Church of St Michael and St John and attached presbytery, Clitheroe, Lancashire

Summary

Roman Catholic Church and presbytery, 1847-50 to designs of J A Hansom; Lady Chapel added 1884 by S J Nicholl of London, and church interior enriched 1899 by Edmund Kirby of Liverpool. Early English Gothic Revival style. The early-C20 presbytery extension does not form part of the listing.

Description

MATERIALS: random limestone with yellow smooth sandstone dressings, slate roofs and cast-iron rainwater goods.

PLAN: aisled nave with W baptistery, towers and porch and an apsidal sanctuary with attached Lady Chapel to the S. On the N side there is a low sacristy link to a presbytery and on the S side a gabled projection.

EXTERIOR: the church is oriented roughly E to W and this description follows liturgical convention. It is situated on a site that falls away from the road and the E end is raised over a crypt. The E end is apsidal with seven tall lancet windows alternating with buttresses, which merge into the thicker walls of the crypt. The six-bay nave has a clerestory of paired trefoil lights with quatrefoils over, in plain, un-moulded dressed stone openings; the aisles have paired lights in longer lancets and stout buttresses with battered plinths. The W front is dominated by a pair of towers, square in plan with re-entrant angles, and a battered plinth; each has a trefoil-headed recess for a statue and a small lancet to the upper stage, and each rises to an octagonal, louvered belfry with a conical octagonal spire. Between the towers, the W end of the nave has three tall stepped lancets with a continuous hood mould and a sill band and a carved stone cross finial to the gable. Below the window is a gabled and buttressed porch with a moulded stone gothic doorway with engaged columns and floriated stops. The flanking aisles with lean-to roofs each have a plate tracery window.

The Presbytery is attached to the NE corner of the church and has two storeys under pitched and hipped roofs of slate with stone chimney stacks, prominent water tables and sandstone quoins. The W elevation comprises a gabled single bay with first floor turret at the right end with a perpendicular window to the apex, surmounted by an overhanging hipped roof. This is attached to a two-bay section, half of which projects slightly and has a single and double lancets to the first floor. The ground floor of all three bays is obscured by a C20 porch extension and infill, executed in similar materials to the original. At the left end is a broad gabled projecting bay with a triple-light mullioned window to the ground floor and scattered fenestration above. A large early-C20 extension to the N end of the presbytery is not included in the listing. The rear elevation has two storeys plus a basement and comprises a two-bay section ending in a projecting gabled bay, with a shorter square tower attached to the left. Fenestration is a mixture of multiple shoulder-arched and terfoil-headed lancets set within rectangular stone surrounds.

INTERIOR: the sanctuary has a tall, wide arch with an encaustic tiled floor and a semi-domed roof with short hammer beams supported on corbels in the form of angels. The walls are lined with marble and mosaic: a plinth of triangular and lozenge motifs has a marble dado above formed of large panels of light pavanazzo edged in gold, which in turn is surmounted by a broad band of mosaic divided lengthways by a serpentine motif with floral motifs below and angel motifs above. A string course of alabaster completes the scheme. Two of the church's original angel statues are retained to the sanctuary walls. The original high altar (modified 1950s) is reached by three steps; the spandrels on the altar frontal are filled with gold mosaic and there are raised circular marble plaques with saints and other symbols carved in relief, work dating to 1957. A screen wall to the rear is of panelled and traceried Travertine marble and there is a canopied marble and Venetian gold mosaic monstrance throne erected against the apsidal wall at the centre of the sanctuary; the throne is reached from both sides by stone steps. The seven lancet windows to the apse contain stained glass depicting seven scenes from the infancy and childhood of Christ by Capronnier of Brussels. An elaborate and ornate marble and alabaster gothic pulpit is enriched with fruit and floral motifs and a relief carving of a large reptile.

The Lady Chapel to the right has richly carved stonework and painted decoration; the floor is formed of mosaic work, marble and alabaster and all structural elements, including the pillars and arches, are of marble. On the right side of the entrance there is an alabaster statue of Our Lady, and within the chapel there are three paintings portraying incidents in the Blessed Virgin’s history: the first on the background beneath the altar represents the tomb of Our Lady and the ten apostles; behind the altar is the Assumption and above the latter is the Coronation of our Blessed Lady.

The three-bay nave has moulded gothic arcades carried on stout circular stone piers. The nave roof is arched braced, each truss pierced towards the apex with quatrefoils and carried down the nave walls, alternating with clerestory windows, to rest on stone head corbels. The original plain benches with round-shouldered ends are retained and sit upon wooden platforms, and there are Caen stone Stations of the Cross by Martyn & Co of Cheltenham. At the W end of the N aisle the baptistery retains its cast iron gates and encaustic tile floor; it also retains its octagonal font with trefoiled sides, set upon a trilobed base with a crown-like counter-balanced oak cover. The N aisle also has a stained glass window of St Margaret of Scotland. There are war memorials to the Fallen of the congregation of both World Wars in the NW corner of the nave. The W end has triple lancets with detached cylindrical shafts containing stained glass depicting the Assumption of the Virgin by Mayer & Co. Below the W window there is an original organ loft supported on a pair of slender columns. The original organ remains but was 'rebuilt' and probably divided at some time before 1921; in 1980 it was enlarged and the console removed. Timber and leaded glass double doors lead into the entrance vestibule.

The original mid-C19 presbytery largely retains its original plan including a sacristy with original fittings and a stone-built chimney piece, and a linking range at the S end. A spinal corridor on the ground and first floors gives access to several rooms; three of the latter retain a segmental pointed-arched stone fire place and two others have panelled reveals and soffit to the window.

History

From 1796 Jesuit fathers had come from Stoneyhurst to say Mass, in a variety of humble buildings, for the small number of Clitheroe Catholics. In 1798 a new chapel was built in Lowergate and the mission continued to be served from Stoneyhurst. In 1843 after the first resident priest was installed, a new church and presbytery was designed by Joseph Aloysius Hansom, and opened on 20 June 1850. The new church seated 900 people and cost £2500; it was described in a contemporary newspaper as a ‘useful, substantial and much admired structure’. The high altar was carved by stone masons Messrs’ Strawbridge of Bristol. In 1884 a rich and ornate Lady Chapel was added, designed by architect Samuel Joseph Nicholl of London and incorporated paintings by London artist Joseph Bonvier. In 1885 stained glass windows by Jean-Baptiste Capronnier of Brussels were installed in the apse. In 1899 the interior of the church was redecorated and enriched under the direction of Edmund Kirby of Liverpool; the sanctuary was particularly richly decorated, the nave walls were painted and new Stations of the Cross were added; the latter carved by Messrs Martyn & Company of, Cheltenham who specialised in the design and production of sculptures and ecclesiastical furnishings. In 1959 the High Altar was renovated under direction of Wilfrid Mangan of Preston; a screen wall was built behind it and an elaborate monstrance throne inserted. Post-Vatican II re-ordering involved the removal of communion rails and all but two of the statues that had adorned the walls of the apse. In 2012 a C16 bell in the tower, which had been brought to the church in the late C19, was restored.

Joseph Hansom had a varied career, which included collaborating with a number of different architects, inventing the 'Hansom Cab' and as founder of the architectural magazine 'The Builder'. He is most renowned for the design of various churches, mostly Roman Catholic, and for Birmingham Town Hall. Joseph Hansom was an independent minded follower of the Gothic style advocated by A W N Pugin and, along with his brother Charles, he is considered to be a leader of Pugin imitators. He is considered a significant talent and has many listed buildings to his name, including two for the Diocese of Salford. Edmund Kirby (1838-1920) was a pupil of E W Pugin, and as a Catholic he established a major Liverpool and Wirral church building practice. He worked mostly in Liverpool and NW England and has several listed buildings to his name. Jean-Baptiste Capronnier of Brussels (1814-91) was a stained glass painter associated with the modern revival of stained glass painting. He is one of the most admired glass makers of the C19. He undertook a number of commissions in Brussels and also in France, Italy and England. At the Paris exhibition of 1855 he won the only medal given for glass painting. Wilfrid Clarence Mangan (1884-1968) was a Preston-based architect who also had offices in London and is a well-known, prolific Catholic church designer.

Reasons for Listing

The Roman Catholic church of St Michael and St John of 1847-50 and original attached presbytery are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* Date: a relatively early Catholic church conceived and constructed well before the Restoration of the Hierarchy in 1850, after which Catholic church building proliferated;

Architectural interest:

* Architect: J A Hansom was one of the foremost Catholic architects of the C19 and this is a good example of his earlier work;
* Design interest: the church has a pleasing Early English Gothic design with a principal west front flanked confidently by towers which rise to octagonal belfrys;
* Interior quality: the interior was enriched in the late C19 by Edmund Kirby of Liverpool most notably the lavishly treated sanctuary, which is complimented by Samuel Nicholl's distinguished Lady Chapel;
* Fixtures and fittings: a suite of high quality features are retained including the high altar, pulpit, original benches set upon wooden platforms, Caen stone Stations of the Cross, an octagonal font and stained glass to the west window;
* Group value: taken together the church and presbytery form a functional and spatial grouping, which enhances the interest of the whole.

External Links

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