6 Buildings

Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain.
Psalm 127, verse 1

In the heat of a summer’s day in 1835 three people fainted in the old St Michael’s Church.  While they were being carried out, the churchwardens flung open the windows, thus incurring the displeasure of the minister, who considered this his prerogative.  The churchwardens wrote to the diocesan chancellor for a ruling.  He upheld the churchwardens’ action but excused the minister on the grounds that he might be ‘afraid of a current of air while he is heated by the exertion of preaching’.

Thus the church of 1770 seems already to have been overcrowded and it was becoming apparent that a new church would have to be built.  It contained about 200 seats, mostly in box pews, lit by three windows on each side.  However the population of Crosby had increased from 499 at the 1811 census to 674 in 1821, owing to the villagers bringing up children in their own occupation and remaining in the village as farmers, labourers or tradesmen.  It was anticipated that the population would further increase when houses would be constructed in connection with the village becoming a bathing place for Liverpool.  In fact, the population nearly doubled to 1201 in the 1831 census.  It is significant that the number of families employed in agriculture and trade had increased by only about 10% during the intervening period but families involved in other occupations, what we would now call service industries, had trebled.  Plans therefore were drawn up to alleviate the overcrowding and in 1840 one hundred seats were added by lengthening the church at the altar end with another pair of windows, one on each side, and plans for an organ were approved which was eventually added in 1843 at a cost of £400.  However by 1841 the population had risen to 1943 and it must have become increasingly clear that even with the extension the church would not be able to cope with the ever increasing numbers.  Although the population levelled off to 2043 in 1851, there was to be a huge leap to 3794 in 1861; significantly the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway had been opened in 1850.  In fifty years the population of Crosby had increased more than fivefold.

Plan of St Luke’s Church as originally built.

Fortunately, the very people who had caused the problem were also capable of solving it.  The influx into Crosby was not so much of the poor but of the wealthy, and two of them, John Myers of Crosby House and James Gerrard of Stanfield, gave liberally to the building fund.  John’s grandfather and namesake, a successful Liverpool merchant and ‘gentleman’ had built
Crosby House, where Nazareth House is now, on the corner of Myers Road East.  His grandson John now resided there, a retired merchant banker with a keen interest in education who later became a county magistrate.  James Gerrard, an amiable but retiring old bachelor, was chapelwarden at St Michael’s and also involved in educational politics.  He came from Cheshire, but had friends and, in his own words, ‘a small property’ in Crosby.  He must have been wealthy to describe Stanfield House (where the Merchant Taylors’ Girls Junior School is now) as ‘small’.  In 1846 he moved there to find peace and quiet, maybe also attracted by friends who lived in Crosby.  His generosity is all the more marked because he was a newcomer and as churchwarden of St Michael’s Chapel had found himself virtually on his own amongst the leading men of the congregation in a dispute over pew rents.  John and James will have felt inspired to replace the out-of-date, ordinary brick building by one in the latest Gothic fashion, in lasting stone.  In addition, £1950 was raised from the sale of land at Coppull near Wigan.  However, the action of the curate, the Revd Richard Walker, was later criticised, as coal was subsequently found on the land and its value rose.  Eventually, the cost of £3500 was reached by voluntary subscriptions.

This photograph from the 1860/70s has the earliest known representation of the 1859 vicarage.

Obtaining permission for the building was made easier by acts passed in 1808/9 and 1823 ‘for promoting and building of additional churches in populous parishes’.  The ‘Sentence of Consecration’ (the document which legalized the consecration of the church on 26 December 1853) states the case for the new church admirably: ‘The Ancient church or chapel of St Luke [nb not St Michael] having by reason of the rapid increase of Population become greatly insufficient for the accommodation of the inhabitants and more especially of the poor it was
found necessary to provide further Church accommodation forthwith And…it having been found impracticable to enlarge the existing Church divers pious and well disposed persons have with the aid of Grants from Public Societies caused to be erected a new and more commodious Church…the New Church contains sittings for 692 persons 324 of which are intended to be set apart as Free for the use of the poor being a greater Number than the whole of the sittings in the present church which contains altogether 280 only of which 40 are free and unappropriated.’  The ‘free and unappropriated’ seats are those which were not subject to pew rents and were marked up on a plan accompanying the sentence of consecration which showed that these seats were in the chancel or choir, at the very front of the nave facing inwards, at the back of the nave and in the gallery.

The foundation stone of the new St Luke’s Church was laid by John Myers in 1853.  Designed by the architects A and G Holme of Liverpool, it was constructed mainly of Stourton Hill stone, filled up with rock faced stonework from the quarry at Upholland.  It was consecrated on 26 December 1853 (see Chapter 1: Consecration).  One feature of the old church appeared in the new: the coat of arms, originally from Sefton Church, and dating from the reign of William IV.

In 1858 Robert Mawdsley was appointed parish warden for St Luke’s Church and held the office for ten years.  During his term of office important improvements were made with a total cost of £1260.  In 1859 a new vicarage was built to replace the ‘Old Vicarage’ built in 1688.  The Old Vicarage was then converted into a farmhouse but this became unsafe, and, although strenuous efforts were made to preserve it, possibly as a museum, it was demolished before the Second World War.  A reading desk and organ were installed and gas heating put in (at first there had only been gas lighting, which was replaced by electric in 1904).  A wall and railings were built round the church and lamps erected outside the church.  In 1863 a bazaar was held in the Town Hall, Waterloo, raising £300 for the bells and then £120 for the turret clock. 

The Thomas Cooke turret clock

The clock is by Thomas Cooke (1807-1868) and is dated 1864.  It is listed in the company’s last turret clock catalogue (1876) as ‘An eight day Clock, striking the hours on a bell of 9½ cwt; with two illuminated glass panels (originally gas), 4 feet 9 inches diameter.’  The mechanism is of the typical Cooke A Frame construction for which the company received a special mention at the London International Exhibition of 1862.  The turret clock is housed in a wooden enclosure, which is again typical for Cooke installations, and is to a design similar to that specified by Thomas Cooke himself.  Originally there were two turret clock installations in the Liverpool area by this maker but the other one, at Anfield Cemetery (1863) was replaced by an electric version some years ago.  A memorial plaque on the clock reads: ‘To the Glory of God this clock was erected, in the year 1864 by Public Subscription through the energy of Mrs Susannah Barnes, wife of Dr FW Barnes, who was for fourteen years Vicars’ [sic] Warden.’

A peal of six bells, the biggest weighing 9 cwt, was installed in the tower.  The first peal of bells was on 28 January 1864 and the first muffled peal on 1 April 1864 on the occasion of the death of Robert Mawdsley’s wife.  The bells were rehung in the early 1900s and again in 1922 and 1975.  In 1936 the belfry was restored and renovated as a memorial to King George V.  Below is a table showing the weight and note of each bell.

For many years the rector of Sefton, the Revd Richard Renshaw Rothwell, objected to the old church being demolished.  However in 1862 it was becoming ‘dangerously dilapidated’ but the bishop was on a confirmation tour and could not give permission in writing for demolition.  However orders were given to proceed without waiting for a signed copy as ‘property and life are in imminent danger from it’ and so the body of the church was demolished and on 17 December 1863 £61 5s 0½d was received from the sale of materials and put to charity.  The tower was allowed to remain as a guide for ships coming into Liverpool or as a lookout or observatory.  The rector went to considerable expense to strengthen the buttresses of the tower, but that too was eventually pulled down and in 1880 the old church site was cleared.  The bricks were used for building walls in the new school and, when that was demolished in 1975, a seat was constructed out of some of the remainder and that still stands by the entrance to St Luke’s.

This photograph, taken before the 1972 fire, clearly shows the original roof.

The stained glass in the original chancel windows was made by Pilkington’s of St Helens.  The windows in the transepts, designed by Capronnier and made in Brussels, were added between 1866 and 1884.  The Good Samaritan window, in the Good Samaritan Chapel, was donated in memory of John Myers who had contributed so much to the cost of the building, laid the foundation stone of the church and been the first churchwarden.  He died aged 57 of ‘concussion of the brain’ in a hunting accident at Stoneleigh Abbey, near Leamington Spa, in 1865 and is buried in the graveyard near the south entrance to the church.  Most of the other windows are a gift of the Houghtons.  Descended from an old Liverpool family, Richard Houghton, a timber merchant, moved to Sandheys (by the seashore in Waterloo) in 1848.  He donated a considerable portion of the cost of St Luke’s Boys’ School built in 1871.  When he died in 1875 he left £300,000 (to be multiplied by 70 for today’s value).

View showing the original pews, steps, altar, organ, roof and chancel.

In 1888 a new baptistry was created by moving the font from the front of the church, just in front of the reading desk on the right in front of the organ pipes, to the back of the church where it is now.  The choir stalls were moved into the chancel and a new staircase constructed so that access to the pulpit was from the nave not from the vestry.  A lectern was installed, a gift of Mrs Bousfield of ‘The Mulberries’ in memory of her husband.

Bazaars were held in 1907, 1913 and 1915 in Alexandra Hall to start a new Parish Hall Fund, raising over £3000.  In 1912 the foundation stone was laid to the ‘Glory of God’ by Joseph Gardener Esq, JP and F A Bartlett MA, Vicar.  It was opened about 1914.  Early attractions included magic lantern slides shows and silent films in the projection room.  In 1935 a great dance band was formed by Leslie Wilson.  This was later taken over by the ‘Blind’ Councillor Peach who was loved by the thousands of HM forces who danced there, the band finally retiring in 1960.  A host of church activities were also held there (see Chapter 5: Activities).

In 1920 a war memorial was placed by the font as a tribute to the men of the parish who died in the 1914-18 war.  An additional tablet was added later in memory of those who died in the 1939-45 war.

View showing the interior of the church after the 1968 modernization, but before the 1972 fire.

In 1938 accommodation was a problem once more.  There were many occasions on which the congregation exceeded 700 and there were even 800 at harvest festivals.  A possible solution was to enlarge the church but the architect who was consulted advised a larger church on the adjoining site.  The vicar’s preferred solution was another daughter church, that is in addition to All Saints’ and St Michael’s, Blundellsands, which had become a separate parish in 1924, with the new church opened in 1931.  However, he advised that more thought had to be given to this and then the situation was overtaken, and changed, by the war.

The parish hall and vicarage still posed problems.  In 1959 modernisation of the vicarage was approved but, even after £6000 (£87,000 at today’s prices) had been spent, it was still antiquated and unsuitable for modern times.  In 1968 the finances of the parish hall reached a critical position.  The hall was in debt, following a loss the previous year; 60% of the income was going to be lost because of the cancellation of the regular Saturday evening booking, and there was a resident caretaker to be paid.  It was decided to sell the hall – eventually to the Comrades Club – and use the proceeds to build a new one more in keeping with parish requirements on land adjacent to the church.  The opportunity was taken to solve the problem of the Victorian vicarage at the same time.  The old vicarage was demolished and land for the new hall purchased from the benefice.  When Raymond Lee came, the new vicarage was not complete and an alternative, 31 Northern Road, was bought and used until the new one was ready.  Both hall and vicarage were completed at the same time, and dedicated by the Bishop of Liverpool on the eve of St Luke’s Day in 1971.  After the fire in 1972, a temporary building (the ‘Hall Annexe’) was erected alongside the Hall to cater for the Junior Church and help relieve the congestion in the day schools.

The visit of the then Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd Stuart Blanch, to dedicate the newly completed St Luke’s hall and vicarage on Sunday 17 October 1971, the eve of St Luke’s Day.
The bishop preached at the 10.30 morning service and then the congregation proceeded to the new hall, which was opened by Dr Jack Webster, one of the readers.  A smaller group then went across to the vicarage for its dedication, the spoken words being relayed across to the folk in the hall, and this is the group featured in the photograph.
The date was exactly 60 years after the opening in 1911 of the first St Luke’s Hall (now the Crosby Comrades Club) which was designed and provided by the Revd Benjamin Webster (Dr Webster’s father), when he was curate of St Luke’s.  Both Dr Webster and his sister Hilda (also seen in the photograph) were present on the occasion in 1911.
From left to right: Mr George Peat (Diocesan Parsonages Board); Miss Connie Miller (churchwarden of All Saints’); Mr Bob Warnock (verger) and Mrs Rose Warnock; Mrs Farrington and Mr Brian Farrington (builder for both buildings); Mr W J Bruxby (architect for both buildings); Miss Hilda Webster; Dr Jack and Mrs Mabel Webster; Mrs Brenda (now Lady) Blanch; Miss Alison Blanch; Mrs Ronnie and the Revd Ian Elliot (curate); the Revd Raymond Lee (vicar); the Bishop of Liverpool.

In 1969, so that Communion could be enacted closer to the congregation, some pews at the front of the church were removed and a platform erected at the crossing of the nave.  New communion rails, altar table and credence table were installed and, in what seemed to be a miracle, they survived the fire.  In fact, however, they had been coated by the maker in a fire-proof substance.

After the fire in 1972 inspection of the church showed that the chancel and vestries had been damaged to such an extent that they had to be demolished and the roof of the church would have to be renewed.  The walls however appeared to be in good condition and the transept windows, although badly damaged, were thought to be capable of restoration.  Accordingly, new vestry buildings behind the chancel provided up-to-date facilities and large storage capacity.  The area in the crossing of the transepts was developed to allow for liturgical movement, and musical and dramatic activities.  A shallow ambulatory was formed behind the Chancel arch.  The organ was moved to the west end in the gallery, and the console and choir were resited in the south transept.  The shallow chancel lying behind the restored chancel arch was lit by storey-high glazing.  All the stained glass in the chancel and the Capronnier windows in the transepts were restored to something very like the condition it must have been in when it was first installed in the church over a century before.  The replacement nave windows were made of plain glass to let more light into the building but the coloured glass at the top of each window survived the fire.  The Good Samaritan Chapel with its furnishings was the gift of All Saints’ Church; its focal point is the picture of the Annunciation which was moved from its original position for this purpose.  The old Victorian box pews with doors were badly damaged in the fire but some fine pitch pine pews was found in St Benedict’s, Everton, a church which was to be demolished.  The Revd Benjamin Webster, father of Dr J L A Webster, was once curate of St Luke’s and later vicar of St Benedict’s.  The pews were cleaned and restored in the St Luke’s Boys’ School between the time when the school closed and the building was demolished.  Some furnishings were so badly damaged in the fire that they could not be restored, for example the Edward Hartley memorial triptych, which was replaced by a plaque, and the reredos of Mexican onyx matching the altar of stone, onyx and alabaster.

In 1978 and 1979 two notable additions were made to the church plate, one a plate inscribed ‘In memory of William M B McIlvean (1909-1979) Churchwarden 1971-1978 Trusted friend’.  The other was ‘Given in memory of Ted Bootle died 22^nd August 1979 and his wife Mary died 29^th August 1979 They loved God and they loved their Church Dedicated on Remembrance Sunday 11^th November 1978 the Sixtieth Anniversary of their wedding at St Luke’s’.  The oldest items of plate are a chalice dated 1714 with the initials I.L. which is Elizabethan in style, and a paten dated 1724 given by Mrs Elizabeth Martin in 1766.  A flagon and paten were given in 1817 by the Revd Thomas Hill, a curate.  In the 1920/30s two chalices and a flagon of silver were presented by members of the congregation, and a silver alms dish.

In 1984 a parish office was established in the church hall and David Trollope raised the possibility of a parish centre.  Construction of this, funded by the sale of the curate’s house in Rothesay Drive, was started on 9 January 1990 by John Morris and Co.  It consisted of a general office and another one for the non-stipendiary curate, Bill Pierce, a counselling room and the Sefton Religious Education Resource Centre.  The moving force behind the latter was Sefton Council’s religious education adviser Jacque Emery, who organised an assistant to set it up and a scheme for running costs to be met by contributions from participating schools.  Since then, with Joyce Wade in charge, the parish office has become a hub of church and community life.

The Crossroads Centre, based in Liverpool Road Methodist Church, was the fruit of the Crosby Group of Churches.  The group was formed in 1982 and includes St Luke’s and All Saints’ Anglican Churches, St Helen’s and SS Peter and Paul’s Roman Catholic Churches and Liverpool Road (until its closure) and Moor Lane Methodist Churches.  In 1986 it became a covenanted group: Churches Together in Great Crosby.  In 2002 it was decided that a new, modern Crossroads building was needed, and with the strong support of St Luke’s this was built on St Luke’s land adjacent to the church hall, and completed in the middle of 2003.

Thus the process continues of building and adapting to the ever changing needs of the Church and the community.