Church of St Andrew, Eastbank Street, Southport
SOUTHPORT - The memorial stone of the new St. Andrew's Church, Eastbank-street, which has been in progress for some time past, has been laid. The new church will owe its erection chiefly to Mr. W. Atkinson, J.P., whose offer to contribute a large proportion of the cost of the building has met with a liberal response from the residents in Christ Church, and the other parishes of the town. The site is at the junction of Eastbank-street and Park-street, the latter of which streets is about to be opened out into the town. Half the seats will be free. The church is cruciform in plan, and consists of a nave, 89 ft. 9 in. by 28 ft. 6 in.; north and south aisles, 61 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft. 6 in.; north and south transepts, 28 ft. 3 in. by 27 ft. 6 in.; chancel, 30 ft. by 24 ft 8 in. with organ- chamber and vestry on the south side. The tower, through which is the principal entrance, is placed in the angle between the chancel and north transept, in order to suit the peculiarity of the Bite and approaches. There is also a porch and entrance in the north aisle. The design is in the Gothic style of the Geometric Decorated period, the principal feature being the tower and spire at the north-east, and simplicity of treatment is the general characteristic of the whole. Internally the nave will have an arcade of four arches on each side, the shafts being of polished Shap granite, with moulded and carved capitals. These arches support a clearstory pierced with two-light tracery windows, and opposite the transept, on each side, is a large arch, the apex reaching to the top of the clearstory. The arches east and west of the nave will be sup- ported by moulded and carved stone brackets. The chancel will have a tracery window of five lights, and a reredos of Caen stone, with marble shafts. The chancel arch will be of large proportions, and will be supported by moulded and carved brackets. The organ-chamber will open by an arch into the chancel, and also into the aisle. The largo window at the west end will be of six lights, and those of the north and south of transepts of four lights, traceried. The aisle windows will be of three lights toward the west, and of two lights at north and south. The roof timbers will be dressed and chamfered in panels; the panels being finished for the present in piaster. The building will be constructed with brick walls, faced with Upholland parpoints in courses. The stone for the exterior is from the Cefn quarries, near Ruabon, and that for the interior is to be white Stourton. The floors are to be of tiles, those in the chancel laid to a pattern. The joiners' work is to be of selected pitch pine, varnished. The windows are to be glazed with toned cathedral sheet glass, in lead quarries. The contractors for the several works are, —for the brickwork, Mr. Smallshaw; for the carpenters' and joiners' and iron work, Mr. Duxfield; for the masons' work, Mr. Greenwood; for the slaters' and plasterers' work, Mr. H. Robin- son; and for the plumbers', painters', and glaziers' work, Mr. Boyd, all of Southport. The building will contain 90S sittings, of which 498 are free; and the entire cost, exclusive of site and fence walls, will be £4,600. The architects are Messrs. Thomas D. Barry & Sons, Liverpool, their plans having been selected in a limited competition of architects from Southport and Liverpool. [Builder 19 August 1871 page 652]