Church of St Peter, Hale

The Church of St Peter is a large, late 19th-century church of red brick with terracotta dressings, located at the junction of Ashley Road and Harrop Road in Hale. It is aligned east-west and has a north-east vestry, south-east choir vestry, and south-west steeple.

EXTERIOR

The church is dominated by its south-west steeple, a four-stage tower with canted corners and an octagonal top section in terracotta. A stair turret is located on the west side. The south side has a Gothic-arched entrance with a cusped intrados, containing panelled oak double-doors with small leaded-glazed lights with trefoil-arched heads and red stained-glass margin lights within an enclosed porch. Tall trefoil-arched lancets light the second stage on the north, south and east sides. The third and fourth stages are terracotta and octagonal, diminishing in size with height. The third stage incorporates four clock faces given by Sarah Ann Whitehead in 1912. The fourth stage forms a belfry with glazed trefoil-arched openings. The steeple is surmounted by a polygonal roof with a weathervane in the form of a fish, representing St Peter and the Early Christian Church.

All elevations incorporate pressed-brick banding and are lit by Gothic-arched windows with geometrical tracery, leaded and stained glass, and quoined terracotta surrounds.

The gabled west end has a large five-light west window composed of cusped lancets with a larger raised central light and blind quatrefoils set above the paired outer lights, all beneath a thin continuous terracotta hoodmould. Above the window are three small, narrow lancet openings, and surmounting the gable is a cross finial. A gabled baptistery projects beneath the west window and is lit by a tall Gothic-arched window composed of two trefoil-arched lights with a glazed quatrefoil at the apex. To the left is the side return of a north-west porch with a three-light trefoil-arched window; to the right is the side return of a south-west porch forming part of the steeple, also lit by a three-light trefoil-arched window on the west side.

The north-west porch has an arched entrance with a cusped intrados containing panelled oak double-doors with small leaded-glazed lights with trefoil-arched heads and red stained-glass margin lights.

The three-bay nave has a pinnacled parapet and massive four-light clerestory windows on each north and south side set beneath continuous hoodmoulds. Below the clerestory windows are lean-to side aisles linked to the nave's parapet pinnacles by flying buttresses. Each side-aisle bay is lit by three small trefoil-arched windows.

The chancel is slightly lower in height than the nave and is lit by a single trefoil-arched window on each north and south side. A terracotta quatrefoil roundel frieze runs below the eaves. Attached to the north side is a gabled organ loft or chamber with an octofoil window and a lower vestry projection in front with hipped roofs and a central bay that projects forward slightly and breaks through the eaves beneath a gable. The vestry has a large Gothic-arched opening, the uppermost part of which is blind, containing a two-light window with a blind quatrefoil above.

The gabled east end is lit by a massive five-light traceried terracotta east window with a large decorative terracotta panel below incorporating an Alisee Patee cross at the centre and a quatrefoil roundel frieze. Surmounting the gable is a coped Celtic cross finial. Set back to the left is a small, lower, gabled choir vestry (originally the Parish Room) with paired trefoil-arched lancets to the east end with a quatrefoil above, all set beneath a Gothic arch. There is also basement access to a boiler room and a coal hole. The south return of the choir vestry has two sets of small paired trefoil-arched windows and an octagonal boiler stack rising from the rear pitch of the roof. To the left of the choir vestry is a small south-east gabled porch with a Gothic-arched opening with a cusped intrados and a panelled and partly leaded-glazed oak door.

INTERIOR

Internally the walls are of exposed brick. There are parquet floors to the nave, side aisles, baptistery and vestries (that to the clergy vestry is hidden under later carpeting), quarry-tiled floors to the porches, and a quarry tile and sandstone floor to the chancel, with additional encaustic tile flooring in the sanctuary. The nave flooring incorporates heating grilles, and oak doors are present throughout.

The three-bay nave contains modern pews and chairs and has an unusual open roof with horizontal bracing dividing the main bays into boat shapes, from which hang large Art Nouveau-style brass chandeliers. The nave has a blind arcade to each north and south side, with each bay containing a massive four-light stained-glass clerestory window by Heaton, Butler & Bayne; the centre lights depict golden angels with coloured wings. To each blind nave arch there are three corresponding open side-aisle arches below. The sandstone pillars of the nave arches also form part of the side aisle arcades, with the remaining pillars of the side aisles being of terracotta with simple capitals and octagonal bases. Carved terracotta panels exist to the spandrels. The side aisles have exposed rafters and each aisle contains a series of small trefoil-arched stained-glass windows depicting alternate New Testament and Old Testament imagery.

The west end of the nave has a large arched opening to the centre leading into the baptistery, flanked by two slightly smaller arched openings accessing the north-west and south-west porches, which contain memorial windows; both arched openings contain a traceried oak and leaded-glazed screen and double doors. The baptistery has a scissor-braced roof and the walls are lined to dado height with pink-veined cream-coloured marble installed in 1900. Above, to the north and south walls, are elaborate First World War memorial marble and glass mosaic panels by Walter J Pearce of Manchester, arranged in a triptych formation. Each memorial has a large central panel bearing inscriptions, regimental badges, and the names of those killed, flanked by pictorial panels bordered by the names of places of battles and depictions of symbolic plants, including lilies and poppies. The two pictorial panels on the mosaic to the south wall depict a wounded First World War soldier touching the foot of a crucified Christ, and Christ blessing a Crusader knight. The two panels on the north wall depict a seascape with St Peter walking on water next to a First World War British naval officer with a boat or skiff in the background, and the angel speaking to Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, and Salome at Christ's tomb after his resurrection, with the sun rising in the background. The uppermost section of the baptistery's north and south walls is formed of a deep terracotta frieze composed of roundels containing quatrefoils. A carved octagonal font of the same marble as the walls sits at the centre of the baptistery on an octagonal plinth with an inscription bearing the names of those lost during the Second World War. The baptistery window, located on the west wall and depicting Jesus Christ reinstating Peter, is dedicated in memory of Susan Joynson.

The main five-light west window above the baptistery entrance was installed in 1898 and depicts St Peter's three acts of faith: the two lights to the left depict the discovery of Christ's empty tomb; the two lights to the right depict the draught of fishes; and the raised centre light depicts St Peter walking on water.

At the east end of the nave, in front of the chancel arch, is a raised carpeted platform upon which sits a modern altar table. To the left is an ornate arcaded and columnar marble pulpit and to the right is a brass angel lectern. The chancel has tall arches to each north and south side (that to the south side is blind), in front of which are clergy and choir stalls of oak with carved end panels with Art Nouveau decoration. The arch on the north side of the chancel contains an organ rebuilt by Charles & Smethurst of Manchester in 1964. A door to the right, forming part of the organ screen, leads through into the clergy vestry, which is also accessed via the north side aisle. The upper section of the blind south arch is lit by a window installed in 1970 by the Ladies Guild that originally formed part of the Dome Chapel, Bowdon, and has a decorative terracotta panel frieze below. The lower section of the arch incorporates a blind trefoil-arched arcade containing a carved oak screen incorporating panels depicting symbols of St Peter and a relief inscription in calligraphic lettering in memory of Isabella Brunskill, the wife of the church's first vicar. The screen also incorporates a door to the left leading through into the choir vestry, which is also accessed via the south-east porch.

The sanctuary is accessed via two steps and is fronted by carved oak sanctuary rails with cusped openings and pierced trefoil decoration. The sanctuary walls are lined with the same marble as the baptistery up to window-sill height with an integral reredos. The lower part of the reredos has a chequerboard pattern with four canopied niches above. The two outer niches are supported by columnar shafts with stiff-leaf capitals and contain statues; that to the left depicts St Peter, whilst that to the right depicts St John. The upper section of the reredos also incorporates mosaic panels depicting plants mentioned in the Gospels, whilst a larger gableted central panel with a cross finial contains a gold mosaic cross. On a raised platform in front of the reredos is an oak altar with a carved front incorporating painted panels depicting crops, including corn and grape vines. The north wall of the sanctuary has a trefoil-arched piscina, and to the south wall are trefoil-arched sedilia. The north and south walls each have a trefoil-arched window containing late 20th-century stained glass entitled 'All Things Bright and Beautiful', depicting daytime and nighttime countryside scenes in memory of three children from local families. The east window depicts the Ascension of Christ, which was the moment when St Peter commenced his work as one of the leaders of the early Christian church (the Twelve Apostles).

The north clergy vestry has exposed rafters, whilst the south choir vestry has a scissor-braced roof. The south-east porch contains a small trefoil-arched stained-glass window depicting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The steeple is accessed externally and contains a sandstone spiral stair that leads to a room containing a clock by Gillert & Johnston of Croydon, given by Sarah Ann Whitehead in 1912. A ladder provides access up to the belfry, which does not contain any bells.