Building Name

Church of St Luke, Liverpool Street, Weaste

Date
1864 - 1865
Street
Liverpool Street
District/Town
Weaste, Salford
County/Country
GMCA, England
Work
New build
Contractor
William Huddleston, of Lincoln

LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE OF ST LUKE’S CHURCH, WEASTE – On Saturday afternoon the foundation stone of St Luke’s Church, at Weaste, near Eccles, was laid on that site within the junction of the Eccles New Road and Weaste Lane. Church accommodation in that neighbourhood has long been a necessity. The nearest church is at Pendleton, nearly a mile distant, and the National School at Weaste, where services hitherto have been held is inadequate to the number who crowd into it on the Sabbath. This want has been readily met. Sir Robert Gore Booth, Bart, heard of it and presented the site of the new church, together with half an acre of ground for the parsonage house adjoining and a money gift of £2,000. This sum has been supplemented by subscriptions from wealthy persons in the district, making a total of £11,050 which will fully meet the cost of the erection. The edifice will be in the early pointed style, and is to consist of a nave, aisles, clerestory, chancel with circular apse, and a south aisle, attached to the chancel, and to be used for vestry and organ. There is to be a western tower and spire, which together will be 115 feet high. The tower will be of less width than the nave, and will harmonise with the general character of the edifice, which is to be on a modest and unobtrusive scale, relying more on beauty of form and proportion. The principal entrance will be by a porch on the north side of the church. The length of the building will be 128 feet and its width about 58 feet. The sittings are to accommodate 500 persons and will be principally free. The work is to designs by Mr G Gilbert Scott, and Mr William Huddleston, of Lincoln, is the contractor. [Manchester Guardian 8 August 1864 page 2]

ECCLES, MANCHESTER — On Saturday week Mrs. Margaret Tootal laid the foundation-stone of a new church at Weaste, near Eccles, in presence of the Bishop of Manchester and a large party of clergy and laity of the neighbourhood. A sum more than sufficient to defray the cost of the building has been subscribed. The total subscriptions amount to £11,650. Sir R Gore Booth, M.P. for Lissadell, county Sligo, gave an acre and a half of land for the site of the church, the parsonage- house, and recreation ground, and the sum of £2,000; Mr. Edward Tootal, of Weaste Lodge, £5,000; Mr. William Atkinson, of Ashton Hayes, late of Weaste Lodge, £1,000. Several others gave from £100 to £250 each. [Church Times, London 20 August 1864 page 269]

CONSECRATION OF ST LUKE’S CHURCH WEASTE - The need for church accommodation in the village of Weaste has long been felt. … The foundation stone of the church was laid twelve months since, and a neat edifice, from plans by Mr G Gilbert Scott, has been erected. It is a district church in the parish of Eccles, and the patronage is vested in the Bishop of Manchester, the Vicar of Eccles and the Trustees – Messrs W T Blacklock, A G Latham and E Tootal. Its only endowment is the parsonage, which stands on the opposite side of the road, and the income will be derived from the pew rents, which are expected to yield about £240 per year. In addition to the churchyard, which is not to be used for burial purposes, nearly an acre of ground on the east side has been allotted as recreation ground. The cost of the church and parsonage has been about £10,000. Sittings for 508 have been provided, 208 of which are free. This edifice is extremely simple in appearance; it is built wholly of stone, and is in the pointed style of the 13th century. It consists of a nave, aisles, clerestory chancel and apse. Its length is 128 feet, its width about 58 feet and its height from the ground to the apex about 45 feet. The roof is an open timber one, and the nave is supported by four arches on each side. There are no galleries. The building is well lighted by circular clerestory windows filled with cinquefoil tracery, by three two-light windows on the north side and four on the south side. The chancel is lighted by two two-light windows with circular heads, and three other two-light windows. An organ, in compass CC to G built by Messrs Hill and Son of London and which cost £500, is placed in a chamber on the south side of the chancel, from which the chamber is separated by two moulded arches. Behind this chamber is the vestry, which can be entered from the south on the outside. Good ventilation has been established, one of the features being the formation of a part of each window, after the manner of Venetian blinds. Effective heating apparatus has been fitted up. A tower and spire, in height about 115 feet have been erected at the west end of the church, directly over one of the entrances. The chief entrance is by a porch on the north side. The whole of the work has been contracted for by Mr W Huddleston, of Lincoln. The consecration by the Bishop of Manchester took place on Saturday afternoon, when a large congregation was present. [Manchester Guardian 7 August 1865 page 2]

ST LUKE’S CHURCH, WEASTE  - The Church of St Luke which was erected from designs by the late Sir Gilbert (then Mr) Scott is built wholly of stone, and is in the pointed style of the 13th century. The church consists of one centre and two side aisles, with an apsidal chancel. A memorial chapel to Mr Edward Tootal, which was added in 1875, opens from the chancel on the north side, opposite to the organ, behind which again are the vestries. The memorial chapel was decorated from designs by Mr C E Kempe, who also supplied the stained glass windows. The length of the church is 128 feet, its width about 58 feet, and its height from the ground to the apex about 45 feet. The form of the west end of the church is somewhat unusual, the pillars which divide the tower from the nave being very large and the arch very high, the effect being much more massive than that of the east end, an appearance of being a separate baptistery being conveyed by the size of the pillars and the smallness of the arches between them and the walls. The roof of the edifice is an open timber one, and the nave is supported by four arches on each side, there being no galleries. The apse contains three - two of them memorial - two-light windows, and between the windows are large figures of the four Evangelists, and below, the wall is draped.  The building is also lighted by circular clerestory windows with cinquefoil tracery, and other windows. The organ is placed in a chamber on the south side of the chancel, from which the chamber is separated by a moulded arch. The reredos is merely a fresco painting on the wall itself: The chancel fittings are of oak. The church was originally painted and decorated after the designs of Sir Gilbert Scott, and in 1890 was entirely repainted and decorated from designs by Mr John Brooke, architect, Manchester. The chief entrance to the church is on the north side. St Luke's, which stands well on an elevation, formerly known as Zion's Hill, at the junction of Eccles New Road and Weaste Lane, is separated from the village by the railway. It has a fine tower and spire, which together rise to a height of 115 feet at the west end, directly over one of the entrances, and may easily be seen from a considerable distance on the south side. Attached to the churchyard, which is not used for burial purposes, is a good sized plot of ground, which is open to the parishioners as a recreation ground. The church, which has sitting accommodation for 508 persons, originally cost about £7,000. It was consecrated by the late Dr Lee, Bishop of Manchester on 5 August 1865.

Reference    Manchester Guardian 8 August 1864 page 2 – foundation stone
Reference    Church Times, London 20 August 1864 page 269
Reference    Builder 27 August 1864 Page 637
Reference    Manchester Guardian 7 August 1865 page 12 - consecration
Reference    Pevsner: Lancashire Manchester and the South East, page 645
Reference    Manchester Faces and Places with illustration