Church Of St Anne

The Church of St Anne is a Grade I listed building located on Saint Anne's Road in Denton. Built between 1880 and 1882 by architects J.M. and H. Taylor, it features a brick structure with a clay tile roof and a cruciform plan, including a crossing tower and an undercroft beneath the chancel and transepts. The design is in a Free Gothic style with local details.

The church has a three-bay nave without aisles, supported by weathered buttresses, and features two, three, or four-light mullion and transom windows with cusped heads, along with overhanging eaves. A polygonal baptistry projects from the west, and there is a gabled porch on the south side. The transepts include a five-light window on the north and a circular window with mullions and tracery on the south. The chancel, which has a five-light west window, is flanked by a vestry with a hipped roof and an organ chamber with an outshut roof. The undercroft, with its mullion windows, enhances the building's height and grandeur.

The large crossing tower is notable for its two-stage roof, featuring a timber-framed bell stage and a square swept spire with gabled dormer openings. Bold diagonal buttresses and a conically roofed octagonal stair turret add to its romantic appearance.

Inside, the church is faced in polychromatic brick, creating a striking effect. The sturdy roof structure consists of arch-braced roof trusses that spring from carved stone corbels. The double-chamfered brick crossing arches lead to an octopartite vault, with the arches supported at the east by short freestanding polished granite columns that create squinches. The interior, including the undercroft, showcases exceptional craftsmanship in glass, iron, stone, and ceramics. The stained glass is by Heaton Butler and Bayne, while the mosaic work is by Salviati and Co. of Venice. This building is considered one of the Taylors' most imaginative works, reflecting individuality and opulence in its design and craftsmanship. The patron for this project was E. Joseph Sidebotham, a local philosopher and industrialist.