Church Of St Francis

The Church of St Francis is a Capuchin Franciscan church located on Grosvenor Street in Chester, built between 1863 and 1875 by architect J O'Byrne. It is constructed from red sandstone and features a banded grey and purple slate roof.

The exterior presents as a hall church, with a narthex porch at the west end that has a gabled front and hip-roofed wings. The west entrance features paired oak-boarded doors on wrought-iron hinges set in shoulder-arched openings, with a pointed-arched 5-light leaded window above. Flanking the statue of St Francis in a canopied niche on the west gable of the nave are two 2-light Geometrical windows. The north side of the church is simply designed with seven pairs of shoulder-arched 1-light windows, and stone crosses adorn the west and east end gables. A small stained glass window is located at the north end of the narthex. The south side mirrors the north side but is largely concealed, as is the east end.

Inside, the church is mostly plastered and painted to resemble stone. The west gallery, supported by octagonal pitch-pine posts, houses the organ on the north side. The floor is made of wood blocks, and there are six arch-braced trusses resting on corbels. The arched chancel features smaller arched chapels on each side, which are continuous with the nave. There are two altars on each side of the nave, with reredoses behind the High Altar and the altars of the side chapels. Commemorative tables are present, including one for the Very Rev. Father Pacificus O.S.F.C., who rebuilt the church in 1875 and died in Bruges, Belgium, in 1888, and another for Rev. Father Venatius O.S.F.C., who began the church in 1863 and died in Gwalior, India, in 1884.