Church Of St Michael And Presbytery Attached

The Church of St Michael and attached Presbytery form a Roman Catholic parish church dating from 1889-91, designed by Dunn, Hansom and Dunn. The church is constructed of snecked sandstone with ashlar-coped rock, a faced plinth, ashlar dressings and quoins, and a graduated Lakeland slate roof with an ornamental red ridge on the transepts. The presbytery is built of rock-faced sandstone in irregular courses, with ashlar dressings and quoins, and a Welsh slate roof with stone gable copings.

The church is cruciform in layout, featuring an aisled nave, a north porch, and a crossing tower. It is connected to the presbytery by a one-bay link from the south transept. The architectural style is Decorated. The main west door is within a deeply-moulded 2-centred arch under a gabled drip mould. The north door, located within the two-bay porch, has nook shafts, a head-stopped drip mould and ball flower ornament. A simpler south door is located in the west bay. All doors are boarded and feature elaborate hinges. The church features paired aisle windows, 2-light windows within a panelled clerestory, and 3-sided west apse to the north aisle. Rectilinear tracery is present in the larger transept, east, and west windows. The octagonal tower has raised tracery to its 2-light windows. Gargoyles and coped parapets feature on the aisles, while gargoyles, pierced battlements, and pinnacles adorn the tower. Some buttresses are gabled. Cross finials are a feature of the steeply-pitched roofs.

Inside, the church has ashlar walls and boarded barrel roofs. Five-bay arcades are supported by alternately round and octagonal piers. Four high crossing arches with central shafts lead to the transepts. There are angel corbels and much carved ornament throughout. The chancel features a painted, panelled ceiling with tierceron-ribbing, while the tower has a boarded ceiling. A high-quality alabaster reredos with statues and a matching communion rail are also present. The east window is by Westlake of London, the west and other windows were created by Atkinson of Newcastle.

The presbytery is three storeys high and two bays wide. The gabled front features a 5-panelled door with an overlight and side lights to the right; a tripartite sash window is positioned above it. To the left, a two-storey canted bay is present. Paired sashes are on the second floor; all windows are stone-mullioned within alternate-block surrounds, flat stone lintels, and sloping sills, with flower-stopped drip moulds. A louvred vent is situated in the gable peak. The gable coping displays a fleur-de-lis finial and moulded kneelers.