St James's Church, Poolstock, Wigan

WIGAN - A new church has been consecrated at Poolstock. The edifice has been erected solely at the cost of Mr. Nathaniel Eckersley, M.P., for the lately constituted parish of St. James. The church has been designed by Mr. Paley, who has taken for his types several churches erected in England during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the prominent features of which are traceried windows, ornamental parapets, and a tower, in place of the high-pitched roof and tapering spire. The church is built of Parbold stone. The height of the roof of the nave is 47 feet, and the height of the tower, which is 16 feet square, is 110 feet: the chancel is 40 feet long, and the dimensions of the nave are 78 feet by 53 feet. There are three stained-glass windows in the chancel, one in the tower, and one in the Eckersley chapel, to the south of the chancel, which is the only part of the church not unappropriated. There are sittings for 700 persons, and the cost of the building is estimated at £14,000. or £15,000. [Builder October 1866 page 749]

POOLSTOCK - St. James’s Church, Poolstock, has been consecrated. The design is of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It consists of a nave and aisles, chancel, porch, vestry and chapel forming the transept, and tower. The chancel is 40 feet long, the nave 78 feet 6 inches by 53 feet 6 inches, the height to the roof of the nave 47 feet, and the tower is 106 feet high and 16 feet square on the inside, —the walls being 4 feet. in thickness. The church has been built of Parbold and local stone, and of light appearance. All the facings are chiselled and the walling fine hammer-punched. The cornices are relieved with gargoyles sculptured. The parapets of the aisles are surmounted with broken battlement-work, with canopies and finials, and the parapets of the clerestory are finished in the same manner. The east end of the nave terminates with crocheted pinnacles. The church is warmed by a hot-water apparatus, supplied by Messrs. Hart & Son, of London. The architect was Mr. E. G. Paley, of Lancaster, and the entire details have been carried out under the supervision of Mr. Stephen Hodgson, clerk of the works. The builders were the Messrs Winnard & Son, of Wigan. The carved and sculptured work ha# been superintended, and in the great part executed, by Mr. J. Gregg, of Manchester. The joiners’ work has been done by Mr. John Preston. Mr. John Taylor, of Poolstock, has had the painting, staining, and varnishing. Messrs. Lavers & Barraud, of London, have executed the west window; and Messrs. Heaton, Butler, and Bayne, of London, the east window, and those in the north and south sides of the chancel. The entire cost of the church is, we believe, over £15,000. [Builder 3 November 1866 page 821]

Reference    Builder 6 October 1866 Page 749 - consecration
Reference    Builder 3 November 1866 Page 821 – consecration
Reference    Manchester Courier? 5 September 1863 page 8 Column 6