Roman Catholic Church Of The Holy Cross

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.