St Barnabas' Church, Crewe

St Barnabas' Church is in West Street, Crewe, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Nantwich, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester.[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[2]

St Barnabas' Church, Crewe
St Barnabas' Church, Crewe
St Barnabas' Church, Crewe is located in Cheshire
St Barnabas' Church, Crewe
St Barnabas' Church, Crewe
Location in Cheshire
53°06′07″N 2°27′46″W / 53.1020°N 2.4628°W / 53.1020; -2.4628
OS grid referenceSJ 691,562
LocationWest Street, Crewe, Cheshire
CountryEngland
DenominationAnglican
WebsiteSt Barnabas, Crewe
History
StatusParish church
DedicationSaint Barnabas
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationGrade II
Designated14 June 1984
Architect(s)Paley and Austin
Architectural typeChurch
StyleGothic Revival
Completed1886; 138 years ago (1886)
Specifications
MaterialsBrick and red terracotta
Red tiled roofs
Administration
ProvinceYork
DioceseChester
ArchdeaconryMacclesfield
DeaneryNantwich
ParishSt Barnabas, Crewe
Clergy
Vicar(s)Revd Ralph Dover Powell

History edit

The church was built in 1884–85 to a design by the Lancaster partnership of Paley and Austin, and was paid for by the London and North Western Railway, being built near to its workshops. The church provided seating for 500 people at an estimated cost of £4,000 (equivalent to £460,000 in 2021).[3][4]

Architecture edit

Exterior edit

St Barnabas' is constructed in brick and red terracotta with red tiled roofs. The architectural style is Perpendicular. Its plan consists of a three-bay nave, north and south aisles, a single-bay chancel, and a southeast vestry. Towards the west end is a shingled flèche. On each side of the church are three cross-gables containing the aisle windows that are timbered at the apexes. The gables at the east and west ends of the church are also timbered.[2][5]

Interior edit

The authors of the Buildings of England series describe the interior of the church as "noble – clear, spacious and open, without being in the least bleak".[5] The arcades consist of terracotta arches carried on pink sandstone piers. Between the nave and the chancel is an open timber screen. At the west end of the nave is a glazed screen forming a baptistry. The reredos and the pulpit are decorated with carving. In the seven-light east window is stained glass dated 1901.[2][5] The two-manual organ was built in 1887 by Wadsworth, and extended in 1957 by J. W. Walker.[6]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ St Barnabas, Crewe, Church of England, retrieved 7 October 2011
  2. ^ a b c Historic England, "Church of St Barnabas, Crewe (1330053)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 7 October 2011
  3. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)", MeasuringWorth, retrieved 11 June 2022
  4. ^ Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, p. 235, ISBN 978-1-84802-049-8
  5. ^ a b c Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 309–310, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
  6. ^ Cheshire, Crewe, St. Barnabas (H00010), British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 7 October 2011