Church Of St. Joseph

LEIGH CHAPEL STREET SD 69 NE (south side) 6/24 Church of St. Joseph II Roman Catholic church. 1855. By Joseph Hansom. Hammer- dressed stone with fishscale bands to slate roof. Wide nave with polygonal chancel, west tower, south porch, north and south chapels and a sacristy. Gothic Revival. 9-bay nave with projecting plinth, weathered and gableted buttresses and 3-light windows with Geometrical tracery. Small gabled chapels (of later date) and porch. 2 and 3-light chancel windows. Vents on roof. 3-stage tower with angled buttresses and saddle roof; octagonal stair turret in one corner, arched west entrance, statue and niche at second stage, 4 cusped lancets at third stage and 2-light belfry openings below the gables which have a statue finial and are flanked by elaborate pinnacles. The roof has gabled dormers and a cast-iron ridge crest. Interior: the unusually wide hammer- beam roof has arch braces in two directions. It failed structurally early in its life and slender cast-iron columns were inserted to support the hammer-beam ends. West gallery. Timber fittings. Stained glass. Various statuary. Elaborate altar and reredos incorporating a heavily enriched canopy above a crucifix. Brightly painted chancel ceiling.

Listing NGR: SJ6634299847