Church Of St Paul

St Paul's Church is an Anglican church built in 1846-7 and extended in 1859 and 1891. Designed by John Hay, the church is constructed of snecked sandstone with Welsh slate roofs, sandstone copings, and cross finials of varying design. The building is in 13th-century Gothic style, comprising north and south side aisles, a north transept, and a northwest steeple.

Exterior

The church displays Early English style buttresses to all elevations, with a projecting string course below the windows. Pointed arched windows with geometrical and curvilinear stone tracery of varying designs feature throughout, all with hoodmoulds and carved stops. The seven-bay nave has dormer-style clerestory windows on the south side, containing trefoil-shaped leaded light windows with cusped bargeboards.

The south aisle extends for seven bays, with ashlar quoining to window surrounds and plain leaded glazing. Windows appear at each end return. An entrance porch in bay two has a steeply pitched roof and a pointed arched opening with hoodmould and carved stops. Inside the porch are a geometric patterned tiled floor, stone benches, a panelled ceiling, and narrow arrow-loop style windows to each side. The south doorway within the porch features a pointed arched ashlar surround and panelled timber double doors with decorative strap hinges.

The lower two-bay chancel at the east end of the nave contains paired stained glass lancet windows with segmental pointed heads and cusped lights, with a dentil cornice above. The rear elevation follows the same style. A tall traceried three-light east window dominates this elevation. The west end features a large traceried four-light window with plain leaded glazing, a trefoil window in the gable apex above, and six narrow stained glass lancet windows with cusped heads at ground floor level. A semi-hexagonal stair turret to the right leads to the choir balcony.

The steeple comprises a three-stage tower with a spire above. The top of the spire has been removed and capped with a gilded crown. Full-height set-back buttresses support the tower. A large triple-chamfered pointed arched doorway in the west wall incorporates slender columns, while a slender recessed lancet window in the north wall includes some stained glass. The second stage features a slender recessed lancet window in the west wall and a two-light traceried window in the north wall, both with leaded glazing. The third stage has paired windows in the style of a belfry to the west wall. Gablets appear at the base and main body of the spire, with larger examples at the base, and pinnacles at each corner.

The north aisle extends for six bays. A wide transept with an M-shaped roof contains large stained glass windows in bays two and three, forming the Lady Chapel. Windows follow a similar style to those in the south aisle, with plain leaded glazing. Small paired stained glass lancets with shaped heads appear at the far right, with stained glass windows at the far left bay and east end return. A chimneystack rises from the east end return. A small lean-to vestry attaches to the east end of the north aisle in front of the chancel, with a segmental pointed doorway on the north side containing a panelled timber door and an arched window to the left. An additional doorway in the east return has paired lancet windows to the right.

Interior

The interior features plastered walls and original floorboards, except for a small replaced area at the west end of the nave. The chancel has a parquet floor. 19th-century pews installed from a nearby redundant church in the 20th century furnish the nave.

The nave displays high scissor-braced roof trusses with decorative pendants, supported by carved stone corbels in the form of angels. Decorative trefoil-shaped clerestory windows with leaded glazing run along the south side. Five-bay nave arcades feature clustered piers and carved capitals. A timber choir balcony with a square panelled front (the benches have been removed) stands at the west end of the nave. A splayed door at the rear left of the balcony leads to a stone winder stair lit by narrow leaded-light lancets, descending to the south aisle. A door at the rear right leads into the steeple.

Six slender cusped stained glass lancets set within deep splayed reveals beneath the west window and choir balcory depict floral imagery. Panelled timber double doors in the right (north) wall, set within a pointed arched surround, lead into the base of the steeple and west entrance. A lancet window in the north wall of the steeple base contains patterned leaded glazing and stained glass. A door in the east wall has strap hinges.

The chancel features a moulded chancel arch and arched braced roof trusses with a painted panelled ceiling. Tall timber panelled dado dating to 1930 lines the walls. A gilded inscription on the panelling behind the altar reads "Bene dictus qui venit in nomine domini" (words of the Sanctus). The stained glass east window depicts St Paul and the ecclesiastical arms of the See of Chester and Archiepiscopal See of York. Patterned stained glass chancel windows incorporate agricultural and religious imagery and symbols, including "Alpha & Omega - the beginning and the end" and "IHS - Greek abbreviation of Jesus' name". Carved choir stalls and a timber and wrought iron altar rail with gilded decoration furnish the space. A carved octagonal stone pulpit to the left of the chancel arch incorporates short coloured marble shafts and displays alpha and omega symbols and "IHS".

The north aisle has arched braced roof trusses supported on stone corbels. A two-bay arcade with a dividing octagonal pier leads to the north transept (Lady Chapel). The left window in the Lady Chapel depicts the Ascension, Christ the Good Shepherd, and Christ with the children. The right window depicts Jesus healing Jairus' daughter. Small paired patterned stained glass lancets at the west end of the north aisle's north wall depict imagery of flora (donated by the church Sunday School in 1891). A traceried two-light memorial window to the right of the Lady Chapel contains patterned stained glass and floral imagery. A stained glass two-light window at the east end of the north aisle depicts the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (donated by the church Sunday School in 1892).

A later choir vestry constructed of timber panels with built-in cupboards and a timber fire surround stands in the northeast corner of the north aisle. The choir vestry leads into the original vicar's vestry and north entrance. A panelled north entrance vestibule contains panelled doors.

The south aisle features a timber panelled lean-to roof with timbers supported on stone corbels. An early 20th-century carved sandstone font and a Henry Willis & Sons organ stand at the east end of the south aisle.

Subsidiary Features

A sandstone lychgate stands on the south side of the churchyard, with steeply pitched sides and an arched entrance with dogtooth mouldings. The churchyard is enclosed by a low sandstone wall surmounted by iron railings.

History

St Paul's Church was built in 1846-7 to the designs of John Hay, partner in the "Hays of Liverpool" architectural firm with William and James Hay, and president of the Liverpool Architectural & Archaeological Society from 1854 to 1856. The church was consecrated on 12 October 1847, and the spire was completed in 1849. The church was extended in 1859 through the addition of a south aisle (the first edition Ordnance Survey map published in 1876 depicts the south aisle already in place by this time), and again in 1891 when a north aisle and Lady Chapel, and a west gallery/choir balcony were added. Most of the stained glass within the building dates to 1890-92.

In the late 1940s or 1950s, following bomb damage incurred during World War II, most of the chancel was rebuilt, including the east window, which had been completely destroyed. The benches on the choir balcony were removed in the mid-20th century, and the area is now used for storage. The pews in the church are replacements from St Peter's Church, Birkenhead, and were installed in the 20th century. The organ was produced by Henry Willis & Sons and was installed in 1920. The carved stone font also dates to the 1920s.

As the area of Seacombe began to be developed in the mid to late 19th century from its origins as an agricultural hamlet, St Paul's Church was one of the first buildings to be constructed, acting as a focal point around which the town grew and developed. The church was built to serve both the local agricultural community and wealthy parishioners who made their living in Liverpool but lived in large houses in the Seacombe area. The church was sited on a raised plateau above the River Mersey to dominate the view from the ferry buildings below and the view from Liverpool itself across the river.

A parish school was constructed near the church in around the 1860s, ceasing use in 1933. During the 1920s to mid-20th century, the area of Seacombe suffered from great deprivation and poverty as the original wealthy inhabitants and families moved away. As a result, the church suffered from years of neglect due to lack of funding. This eventually led to the removal of the top 20 feet of the spire in the mid-20th century, as the fabric had become unsafe. The modern late 20th-century replacement crown was made at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead.