Roman Catholic Church Of St Oswald And St Edmund Arrowsmith

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 24/03/2015

SJ 59 NE 11/5

ASHTON IN MAKERFIELD LIVERPOOL ROAD (south side) Roman Catholic Church of St. Oswald and St. Edmund Arrowsmith

(Formerly listed as Church of St. Oswald and St. Edmund)

GV II Catholic Church. 1925-1930. By J. K. Brocklesby. Stone. Romanesque style. Nave, chancel and ambulatory, south west tower, north west turret and north and south chapels (ritual west is actual north). West front has corbel table; giant arch of 3 orders enclosing round-headed window and entrance of 3 orders; relief in tympanum of coronation of Virgin,, and sliding doors. Statue of St. Oswald on corbel table. To-left a round turret with round-headed window on sill course; corbel table and conical roof of diminishing courses of pointed stones. Tower to right has angle buttresses. Windows to west and south have shafts and hood moulds with head stops; tall slots to 2nd stage and paired round-headed bell openings, corbel table and pyramidal roof. Nave of 7 bays has clerestory with corbel table and pinnacles flanking central and end bays; 2 triplets of window. 2 south chapels of 3 bays flank entrance bay, with Lombard frieze and sill course. Windows to eastern chapel have shafts and enriched archivolts. Round-headed entrance is flanked by weathered buttresses, as is eastern bay. East end of chapel has round apse with stone roof and 2 windows on sill course. Chancel has rounded end, Lombard frieze and shafted windows with enriched archivolts; weathered buttresses and end small round apse with window. Clerestory has 7 windows. North side similar to south; connection to presbytery and 3 lower bays of confessionals to west, Interior: Nave has 3-bay units with arcades on quatrefoil piers, enriched transverse arches and saucer domes, small intermediate bay. West gallery on 3 arches, the outer ones stilted, on enriched clustered shafts; arcading to gallery front. Ambulatory has transverse arches on corbels. Chancel has 5 stilted arches to ambulatory. Vaulted roof is stencilled. To north and south are 5-bay blind interlaced arcades with 3 recesses. North chapel has west screen of 3 stilted enriched arches, 3 bays to ambulatory. Round-headed recess to east with reredos painting over marble altar; to east a vestry with iron gates. East apse to ambulatory has shrine and iron gates. Chapels to south have 3- bay arcades to ambulatory, eastern chapel has apse with shrine and screen to west. Stained glass in expressionist style by Harry Clarke 1930-7 with some similar glass dated 1970. 2 holy water stoups, free-standing blocks at west end of nave with reliefs to fronts. Bow-fronted pulpit has-peacock emblem. Chancel has arcaded rail and marble altar, with wood altar in cyma form from former chapel (1822) to front. The church is noted for its excellent carving of corbels, arches etc. by the Howe Brothers, and as the shrine of the hand of the Martyr St. Edmund Arrowsmith.

Listing NGR: SJ5756498906