Lancashire

Churches

A church of 1841 by Decimus Burton, the planner of the town of Fleetwood

The town of Fleetwood was conceived by Peter Hesketh (later Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood), in the 1840s, as a port and resort. His friend and architect, Decimus Burton, did most of the early design. Burton had done much work in London (Hyde Park and Regent's Park), as well as collaborating with J. Paxton and R. Turner on the great Palm Houses at Chatsworth and Kew. In Fleetwood his plan was for streets radiating from a centre, with fine classical buildings. Much was done that can still be seen, but the grand design was only partly completed. Today the town has a number of fine Victorian buildings. Those designed by Burton include the North Euston Hotel, Queen's Terrace, the two stone lighthouses, and St Peter's church on Lord Street.

Pevsner is rather unkind to Burton's church: "It could be by anybody" he says. Certainly St Peter's is very typical of its time, and makes no attempt to be archaeologically correct. It is a rectangular sandstone building built by public subscription. The sum of £3,822 was raised, and the dedication of the completed church took place on St Peter's Day (June 29th), 1841. At that time Fleetwood was part of the parish of Poulton, but it become a parish in its own right in 1891 after the expansion of the town.

At the west end of the church is a short tower that is narrower than the nave. It has a south door with moulding that sweeps round the arch uninterrupted by capitals. On three faces are twin lancet bell openings, and the west window has triple lancets. Stepped and gabled diagonal buttresses change, at the bell stage, into short, capped, octagonal corner pinnacles. Burton's original church had a narrow octagonal spire, set back behind the embattled parapet. Photographs show it to have been about the same height as the tower. It was taken down in 1904 when it became unsafe. Its absence makes the tower look too small for the rest of the building - in fact the ridge of the nave roof almost reaches the bottom of the tower parapet.

The nave is of five bays, each with a tall lancet window framed with cream sandstone and surmounted by a small hoodmould with label stops with faces. On the exterior the bays are separated by buttresses that are gabled two thirds of the way up the wall, but carry on to the eaves in the form of pilaster strips. The whole effect is quite plain and simple in the manner of churches of this style and period.

The interior of the nave is aisleless. The walls are plastered and the ceiling is divided into rectangular compartments by ribs that curve down to short brackets - a quite elegant effect. At the west end is a tall moulded tower arch. Burton's church had galleries on three sides. Only the west gallery remains: those to the north and south were taken down in 1960. One can imagine that the galleries would have significantly reduced the lighting of what is now a well lit space. This may account for the fact that the church originally had windows of clear glass throughout. As is quite common today, the space below the west gallery has been glazed on the nave side to form a room.

Burton's church stopped at the end of the present nave. However, in 1882 the church was enlarged by Paley & Austin of Lancaster. The extension, costing £3,000, involved creating an arch in the east wall and building a chancel, sanctuary and short north and south transepts. The chancel arch is unmoulded with a semi-circular head. To left and right are small pointed arches that lead from the side aisles into the extension. The chancel has two stone-built bays to north and south, supported by ocatgonal columns. Above is a barrel-vaulted roof with prominent ribs and a large roundel over the altar. The east window is, apparently, Burton's original work, reset by Paley & Austin. It is of five lancets, the centermost being the tallest, with quatrefoils above the flanking lights.

Paley & Austin's extension is slightly lower than the nave. The exterior continues the lancet theme, but adds quatrefoils in circles in the gables of the transepts. At St Peter's, as at many lancet churches, the extension detracts from the simplicity and completeness of the original conception (see, for example, Glasson).

The church has a relatively small amount of stained glass. Perhaps the most interesting is the south aisle window of 1809 by Ward & Hughes. It was designed by T. F. Curtis who at that time ran the company.

Tower and nave

The very short tower originally had a spire. It was removed in the early 1900s.

Tower seen from Lord Street

Burton's church, including the tower, has lancet forms throughout.

Looking east

The chancel is an addition of 1882 by Paley and Austin.

Looking west

The church was originally galleried on three sides. Those to north and south went in 1960.

Ward & Hughes glass (1909)

Figures in an architectural setting by Thomas F. Curtis.

Photographs and text © Tony Boughen