Church of St Stephen is a Grade II listed building in the Wirral local planning authority area, England. First listed on 28 March 1974. Church.

Church of St Stephen

WRENN ID
swift-chapel-crimson
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Wirral
Constituency
Birkenhead MP: Alison McGovern (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
28 March 1974
Type
Church
Address
Church of St Stephen, Prenton Lane
OS grid reference
SJ 308 863
Coordinates
53.3691, -3.04145
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

The Church of St Stephen is a parish church located on Prenton Lane in Birkenhead. It was begun in 1897 by architect C.E. Deacon and completed in 1907 by Deacon and Horsburgh. The church is constructed of coursed and squared rubble, with a red tiled roof. It features a nave flanked by lean-to aisles and projecting east chapels, along with a chancel. The west end has a prominent five-light window. The south aisle includes stepped lancet windows set within superordinate arches, with paired lancets in the east and west bays and quadruple lancets in the two central bays. There is a doorway towards the west in a plain moulded archway. The church has a high parapet with a plain corbel table and a heavy turret at the western end. The lower chancel has a triple lancet window to the east, while the north aisle mirrors the south but has its main doorway towards the west, featuring a stepped moulded and chamfered arch within an advanced gable, topped with a statue in a niche.

Inside, the church showcases exposed brickwork with stone bands. The arcade consists of four bays supported by square chamfered piers with foliate capitals and plain chamfered arches, leading to a narrower western arch. Terracotta hoodmoulds are present above the arches. The roof is an arched braced King post design. The chancel features a steeply pointed arch supported by free-standing piers adorned with carved angel capitals, with another similar arch marking the sanctuary. The chancel has a keeled panelled ceiling. The furnishings, including the carved wood pulpit, lectern, choir stalls, altar rails, and altar, were all designed by Deacon. There is a brick sedilia with terracotta putti, and the east window serves as a war memorial for those who served in 1914-18, depicting Christ in Majesty.

Local climate

Church of St Stephen sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,080 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 86% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 75% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 19 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 9 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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