Christ Church

Christ Church is a parish church on Gleadless Road in Sheffield, built in 1848 by Joseph Mitchell. The building was substantially enlarged with a nave extension, north aisle and vestry added in 1890 by JD Webster, and a south aisle in 1897, also by Webster. It is constructed of coursed squared stone with ashlar dressings and slate roofs with coped gables, crosses and finials, in the Gothic Revival style.

The plan comprises a chancel, vestry, nave, north and south aisles, south transept, north tower and south porch.

The chancel is of two bays with diagonal buttresses to the east and a five-light pointed arch window with chamfered surround on a stepped sillband. The north side has a single buttress and two flat-headed single light windows. The south side has an adjoining gabled vestry with a gabled side wall stack and gabled angle buttress. To the east is a shouldered plank door with a two-light pointed arch window to its right, and a similar window to the south.

The south transept has diagonal buttresses, with two-light pointed arch windows to the east and west. The south side has a three-light pointed arch window with a trefoil opening above it and a pointed arched doorway with hoodmould below.

The south aisle is gabled with five bays, buttresses and two datestones dated 1897. The south side has three two-light pointed arch windows to the east of the porch, a similar window to the west and another at the west end. The south porch has diagonal buttresses and a coped gable with cross. It features a moulded doorway with double shafts, an interior vault with filleted flying ribs, a moulded doorway with single shafts, twentieth-century doors and a traceried overlight with hoodmould. Stone benches are present within the porch.

The north tower rises in three stages with string courses and a crenellated parapet with flat-topped diagonal pinnacles. Clasping buttresses flank the ground and second stages, with a diagonal buttress to the first stage. An octagonal stair turret with loops is situated to the north east. The north side has a three-light pointed arch window between stages with hoodmould, as does the east side. The second stage contains a two-light pointed arch bell opening on each side, with clock dials to the south and west, installed in 1901.

The north aisle is a lean-to structure of five bays with buttresses and five two-light pointed arch windows, plus a similar window at the west end. The nave west end has a four-light pointed arch window with flamboyant tracery and hoodmould with stops, with a trefoil above.

The chancel interior has a double chamfered arch with triple shaft responds. An arch braced roof with traceried spandrels and mask corbels spans the space. The east end contains a Decorated style blind arcade and a stained glass window of 1913. The south side has a double gabled wooden sedilia in Decorated style, and to the west a moulded arch with hoodmould containing a traceried wooden screen and doors. The north side has two windows.

The crossing has a single bay wooden vault with moulded ribs and corbels, and double chamfered arches to north and south with triple shaft responds. A low screen wall to the sanctuary has a roll-top alabaster coping.

The south transept has a steep pitched arch braced roof with king posts and mask corbels. The east side has a pointed arched recess with a door to the vestry and a stained glass window dated 1865 and 1882. The south gable has a plain window with a blocked doorway below. The west side has a plain window and a single chamfered arch to the aisle.

The nave has five bay arcades with round columns and double chamfered arches, with an arch braced principal rafter roof with king posts. At the west end, two bays are enclosed by late twentieth-century glazed wooden screens forming a gallery and mezzanine floor above, with meeting rooms below. A plain west window is present.

The south aisle has an arch braced roof with shafts and corbels, and a twentieth-century door at the west end.

The north transept, situated under the tower, has a cross beam ceiling and plain windows on each side. To the west is a chamfered arch to the north aisle.

The north aisle has a strutted lean-to roof with corbels.

The fittings include a nineteenth-century traceried octagonal font in Decorated style with clustered shafts and octagonal crocketed spire canopy, with steps bearing text inlaid in encaustic tile. A traceried wooden altar rail and octagonal pulpit with clustered ashlar shafts are present, along with prayer desks and altar in similar style. A brass tripod lectern and steps are dated 1890. Panelled softwood benches furnish the interior.

Memorials include a segment-headed bronze war memorial tablet of 1920, a marble tablet of 1828, and a Gothic marble tablet of 1894.