Church Of St Anne

The Church of St Anne, located on Tyldesley Road in Atherton, was built between 1899 and 1901 by the architectural firm Austin and Paley. This church is constructed from thinly-coursed sandstone and features a graduated Westmorland slate roof. It is oriented in a north-west/south-east direction, following traditional ritual orientation.

The church has a four-bay aisled nave, which includes a south porch and a transept, as well as a two-bay chancel that has a tower and vestry on its south side. The design reflects the Gothic Revival style. The nave features a gabled porch on the right and is divided by an offset buttress, which separates four two-light windows that have sill bonds, hollow-chamfered surrounds, and cusped tracery. The gabled transept showcases a tall four-light window with reticulated tracery set under a pointed arch with a hoodmould. On the north side, there are three, four, and two windows (similar to those on the south) divided by buttresses. The west window, which has four lights, is quadrant-moulded and set under a pointed arch with a hoodmould, while the aisle windows are square-headed and two-light. The gable is coped and features a slit and an apex cross.

The tower includes a chamfered plinth and diagonal buttresses, with a tall two-light window and a hoodmould. There is a string course beneath a short belfry stage that has louvred, square-headed two-light openings. A buttress on the right rises as an octagonal turret at the corner of the embattled parapet, topped with a pyramidal roof and weathervane. The chancel has traceried three-light windows on each side and large buttresses flanking a pointed five-light east window with reticulated tracery and a hoodmould. The vestry, located at the angle with the tower, has a gabled south side and features three-and two-light windows with a sill bond, which rises as a hood over the shouldered lintel of the east doorway.

Inside, the aisles are supported by alternate hexagonal and round piers with double-chamfered arches. The roof features an arch-braced king-post design, and there is a double-chamfered chancel arch. A corbelled and ribbed arch is found beneath the tower. The interior includes contemporary pews and a marble font that is covered by a wooden spire.