Church of St George

Church of St George

A Gothic Revival church built between 1859 and 1861, designed by E G Paley. The patrons were the Duke of Buccleuch and the Duke of Devonshire. The north aisle was added in 1867, and a chapel was added in 1883 under the patronage of Sir James Ramsden. The church was built as the parish church for the new town of Barrow.

The building is constructed of dry-jointed slate with red ashlar sandstone quoins and dressings, covered with graduated slate roofs. The church is oriented north-east to south-west, using the ritual orientation. It comprises a five-bay nave with separately-roofed aisles, a south porch, a west porch, and a three-stage tower at the west end of the south aisle. There is a two-bay chancel with a south chapel, north organ chamber, and vestry.

The architectural style is Gothic Revival with Geometrical tracery. The building has a plinth and offset buttresses between bays. The south aisle porch at the second bay features clasping buttresses and a pointed arch with hoodmould beneath a steep gable with copings and a cross. Pointed-arched windows of three and two lights have hoodmoulds, and there is a string course beneath an ashlar parapet with water spouts and roll-moulded copings.

The three-stage tower has offsets below each stage and diagonal buttresses with offsets and gablets. An octagonal stair turret is located at the south-east corner. The tower's west side has a cusped two-light window with hoodmould and a small two-light window above. Paired two-light belfry openings have louvres with a slit beneath a triangular hoodmould. A cornice with ball-flowers supports an oversailing, embattled parapet with roll-moulded merlons. The stair turret has a square base with a trefoil-headed door to the west, offsets, string courses, and slit windows, with blind cusped lancets and a cornice beneath an embattled parapet.

The west porch has a door on the south side with colonnettes, a two-centred arch and hoodmould. The inner door has an ovolo-moulded, pointed arch and hoodmould on angels. The west gables of the nave and north aisle have offset buttresses and four-light windows with differing tracery, hoodmoulds, and ashlar gable copings.

The north aisle has pilaster buttresses dividing four two-light windows and one three-light window. The chancel has a five-light east window beneath a gable with ashlar copings and a cross. The lower south aisle gable has a three-light window.

The south chapel sits under the same roofline as the aisle. An octagonal turret at the junction has blind tracery, gablets, and a crocketed spire with finial. The chapel has two-light windows and a parapet with quatrefoils. An apsidal projection to the north, once used as the vestry but now located at the west end of the south aisle, links to the aisle with three-light mullioned windows. Another link connects to the former vicarage, now St George's House on Salthouse Road. The former vestry has a corbelled stack with two round flues.

Inside, the north aisle now forms a church hall. The arcades have alternate octagonal piers and round piers with foliage-carved capitals, double-chamfered arches and hoodmoulds with head-carved stops. The nave roof features arched-braced, collared trusses with cusped wind-braces. The south aisle has scissor-braced common rafters. The chancel and south chapel, known as the Ramsden Chapel, are lined in red ashlar sandstone. The chancel arch has trefoiled responds and carved capitals to a cavetto and ovolo moulded arch. A north arch leads to the organ chamber with a recess and niche to the east. Two arches on a foiled pier lead to the chapel, with sedilia to the east. The chapel has carved scissor-braced trusses. Around the east end of the chapel is arcading with colonnettes; war memorials occupy three of the niches. The arcading has a hoodmould with head-carved stops, and there is a wooden, vaulted ceiling. The church contains nineteenth-century pews and stained glass in the east and west windows. Two windows in the south aisle are by Shrigley and Hunt of Lancaster. Double gates mark the former main entrance. A cast iron gas lamp standard stands near the south porch.