Church Of St Clare

The Church of St Clare is a Grade I listed church built between 1888 and 1890, designed by L. Stokes. It is constructed of brick with stone dressings and features a slate roof. The church has a single vessel layout, with a small north transept and north and south chapels, all in a free late Gothic style.

The north face of the church displays six deeply recessed windows with four lights each, featuring Perpendicular tracery and sharply pointed heads. The small gabled transept includes a three-light window, pilaster buttresses, and a stair turret that reaches the lintel of the window. An octagonal turret with a copper fleche is situated at the angle of the transept and nave. In front of the first two windows, there is a low chapel with a round-headed five-light window and a slightly pointed seven-light window in the return wall. A small gabled porch is located at the western end.

The west front is simply designed, featuring a seven-light window set in a deep splay with a broad weathered sill, ornate tracery, and two sharply chamfered king mullions, with shields in panels below each light. The south front mirrors the north front's organization but includes a lean-to that accommodates confessionals. The east front showcases a five-light window with complex tracery set in a relieving arch, with the springing rising from the weathered sill.

Inside, the church consists of ten bays with a waggon roof over the wide nave, supported by deep splayed internal buttresses that create passage aisles. The arcade supporting the combined gallery and clerestory features round arches with simple mouldings that die into the piers. The east window depicts the crucifixion and saints. A marble altar rail spans the width of the nave and chapels, with a high altar and reredos made of the same material, topped by a large triptych. The polygonal stone pulpit has battered panelled sides and open tracery above, while the marble font features a simply treated bowl with a copper cover. This church is recognized as one of the most original and influential buildings of its time in the country.