Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross is a Grade II listed building in the Chorley local planning authority area, England. First listed on 30 January 1987. Church. 1 related planning application.

Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross

WRENN ID
south-tallow-dew
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Chorley
Constituency
South Ribble MP: Mr Paul Foster (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
30 January 1987
Type
Church
Address
Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross, Grape Lane, Croston, PR26 9HB
OS grid reference
SD 492 180
Coordinates
53.65649, -2.76918
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross, built in 1857 by Edward Welby Pugin for the de Trafford family of the former Croston Hall, is a small church designed in an eclectic Gothic style. Constructed from rock-faced sandstone, it features a steeply-pitched roof covered in slates arranged in decorative bands of fishscaling, topped with a cockscomb ridge. The building consists of a short, three-bay buttressed nave and chancel, with offices located on the north side.

At the west end, there is a buttressed gabled porch that includes a pointed arched outer doorway, which is adorned with two orders of moulding. The inner moulding rises from shafts with foliated capitals, and there is a hoodmould with carved stops above. A small lozenge is positioned above the doorway, flanked by small cusped side windows. To the right of the porch, there are two three-light traceried Perpendicular windows with pointed heads and hoodmoulds.

The chancel is slightly lower than the nave and features diagonal buttresses, sill bands, and two windows similar to those in the nave but with two trefoiled lights and trefoils in the heads. The east window is a two-centred arched design with three lights, tracery, and a multifoil in the head, complete with a hoodmould that has carved stops. The west gable contains two similarly-shaped two-light windows, a rose window above, and a three-stage gable bellcote topped with a decorated iron cross. The east gables of both the nave and chancel have stone copings similar to those on the porch, each adorned with carved stone crosses at the apex.

Inside, the church features panelled wagon roofs with stencilled decoration. The chancel arch is supported by semi-octagonal responds with foliated capitals and includes two orders of moulding and a hoodmould with foliated stops. To the right of the chancel arch, there is a carved niche housing a statue. On the north side of the nave, there are triple arched doors leading to confessionals. In the chancel, a carved arcade screen leads to the sacristy, and a carved stone reredos is present, with the surround of the east window echoing the design of the chancel arch on a smaller scale.

Local climate

Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,240 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 92% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 23 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 76% of listed buildings. Of these, 10 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 1 application
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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