Church Of St Andrew

Church of St Andrew, Thornton Cleveleys

This church was built in 1910, with the tower added in 1939 and the nave west bays, baptistry, west end and west porch rebuilt in the 1950s. The design is probably by R Knill Freeman, a local church architect whose style was followed throughout the building's development.

The church is constructed of uncoursed squared stone with red sandstone ashlar dressings. The roofs are Welsh slate with green slate bands. The building features a plinth, sill band, buttresses, and coped gables to the east and west, each topped with a cross.

The plan comprises a chancel with clergy and choir vestries, a north-east tower, south-east chapel, transepts, a nave with aisles, a baptistry, and west porches.

The chancel's east end features a traceried 5-light window with hood mould, below which are two flat-headed openings of 3 lights with stone mullions. The sides are masked by the chapel and vestries. A stepped coped chimney stack rises to the south. The hipped choir vestry to the north has a shouldered doorway to its left and a cusped flat-headed 3-light window, with a similar door to the north.

The north-east tower is in two stages and incorporates the clergy vestry. The lower stage has ribbed angle buttresses. Its north side displays a canted stair turret with three lancets in the base and single windows on two stages above. The recessed bell stage has square corner projections and traceried bell openings with louvres on each side.

The south-east chapel comprises two bays with a 3-light pointed-arched window with tracery to the east and two segment-headed 2-light windows with panel tracery to the south.

The double-gabled transepts have 3-light pointed-arched windows with panel tracery and hood moulds. The south transept has a canted projection to its south-east corner and a pointed-arched door in a flat-headed opening.

The aisles, four bays deep, have 3-light windows with panel tracery and segmental heads. The nave's west end has a 4-light pointed-arched window with panel tracery. Below it, the baptistry has three single windows with panel tracery.

The west porches have coped parapets and pairs of outer doors with elliptical-arched openings. Each has a 2-light window with panel tracery and segmental head to the west. The south porch features a porte-cochere in similar style, with octagonal angle buttresses and Tudor-arched openings.

Interior

The interior is faced with ashlar. The chancel has a cove-moulded arch set in a segmental recess with foliage spandrels. Foundation stones dated 1910 flank the arch. The roof is principal rafter with arch braces. The north side contains a moulded pointed-arched recess with an organ case on brackets. To the east is a moulded 4-centred arched doorway in a square-headed recess with enriched tympanum and spandrels. The east end has a traceried wooden altar rail and reredos with canopy and crucifix dating to around 1922. The east window has a hood mould and stained glass of around 1944. The south side has a cusped piscina and a 3-bay arcade with moulded pointed arches dying into moulded piers, with traceried wooden screens and doors in the openings.

The south-east chapel has a principal rafter roof ceiled at collar level. Its east window contains stained glass of around 1911, and the two south windows have stained glass from 1916. To the west is a moulded pointed-arched opening to the transept with a traceried wooden screen and a segmental pointed doorway.

The vestries have roll-moulded openings and panelled doors.

The transepts have principal rafter roofs ceiled in with central traceried beams and moulded pointed arches into the aisles. The south transept has patterned stained-glass windows and a flat-headed inset doorway to the east. The north transept has a stained-glass western window of 1972 by Abbott & Co of Lancaster and patterned stained glass to the east. Its east side has a moulded pointed-arched opening with organ pipes and, to the right, a segmental pointed door, with a similar opening above containing organ pipes.

The aisles, four bays deep, have lean-to roofs with struts. At the west end are 4-centred arched doorways with label moulds and linenfold-panelled double doors. The south aisle has stained glass of around 1944 and 1950 by Abbott & Co of Lancaster. The north aisle has stained glass of around 1934 and 1950 and 1970 by Abbott & Co of Lancaster.

The nave comprises six bays with a panelled wagon-vaulted roof with arch braces on corbels to alternate bays. Moulded pointed arches with hood moulds rest on round piers with moulded bases and capitals. Octagonal responds appear at the east and west ends. The west end has a 3-bay arcade to the baptistry with moulded pointed arches dying into slender moulded piers. Above is a traceried window with plain glass. The baptistry has three traceried flat-headed windows with stained glass dated 1959, 1957 and 1964.

The west porches have plain glazing and 4-centred arched doors. The south porch has a glazed wooden screen of around 1987.

Fittings include an octagonal ashlar font with a round stem and marble shafts on a moulded round base. There is a traceried wooden pulpit with figures and canopies, featuring an octagonal ashlar stem and steps. The choir stalls and matching clergy desks are traceried and panelled, inscribed and dated 1911.

Boundary and Setting

Across the east front runs a low boundary wall of uncoursed squared stone with ashlar coping and two gateways with square piers and moulded caps; an iron gate stands to the right. An adjoining higher wall with plain coping extends from the north end, bordering the churchyard and enclosing a memorial garden on the north side of the church.