Southdean Parish Church, Chesters

Southdean Parish Church, Chesters

Southdean Parish Church is an Early English style building designed by George Grant of Glasgow and opened in 1876, with internal alterations carried out in 1923–1924. The church is a rectangular-plan structure built in rusticated red sandstone ashlar with polished window and door dressings. It features a deep panelled base course, moulded eaves course, skew gables, and a distinctive bell tower gable to the north. A single-storey square-plan vestry is attached to the rear, and a gabled entrance porch projects from the west elevation.

The principal west elevation is dominated by a square-plan pitched-roofed porch containing two stone steps leading to a 2-leaf timber boarded door. The door has ornate wrought-iron hinges and a pair of wrought-iron ring door handles, set within a very deep moulded surround with hoodmould terminating in female head label-stops; voussoirs frame the outer edge of the door surround. An inset oval moulded stone with a raised date stone inscribed "1874" is set within a quatrefoil, and a stylised fleur-de-lis cross surmounts the porch gable apex. The remainder of the principal elevation is plain, with a small arched floral stained glass window to each side of the porch, each with a moulded surround and a short stepped buttress at the lower outer angle. Above the porch is a small round window divided into 4 panes, and to its right are three regularly placed single-light arched windows with hoodmoulds terminating in foliate label stops; each window is flanked by stepped buttresses.

The south elevation is gabled and contains a central three-light arched window with architraved surrounds, continuous hoodmould with foliate label stops, and sloped drip sills; stepped buttresses flank the outer edges. A small round window with sandstone voussoirs sits near the gablehead, and a stone cross crowns the gable apex.

The east (rear) elevation features the single-storey vestry to the left, with a blind gabled section to the left and a flat-roofed section to the right containing a central square window. A timber boarded arched entrance door with decorative wrought-iron hinges is set within a moulded surround beneath a lean-to style gable, while a small square 2-pane window of square leaded quarry appears to the right return. A small square window, partially infilled, was created from a former entrance door. Pairs of round windows flank the vestry roof line. To the centre and right of the main building are three regularly placed single-light arched windows with hoodmoulds terminating in foliate label stops, each flanked by stepped buttresses.

The north elevation is gabled with a central stepped buttress. Tall lancet windows with moulded surrounds and continuous hoodmould terminating in foliate label stops flank the gable, with a small oculus near the gablehead. The gable apex rises into a pitched roof bell-cote housing a single metal bell with an original wheel ringing mechanism and chain running down the side of the buttress; a cockerel weather vane surmounts the whole.

The building is roofed with Westmoreland slate with stone ridging. Rainwater goods are painted cast iron with semi-hexagonal hoppers and plain downpipes.

The church contains decorative and figurative stained glass windows, many donated by landlords and former ministers. The east window was given in memory of James Thomson, funded by public subscription; the north gable window was donated by the Earl and Countess of Home.

The interior underwent alteration in 1923–1924 when the pulpit and organ positions were changed to accommodate a fumed oak Communion Table, which also serves as a memorial to Southdean parishioners who died in World War I. The table stands before a much older 'super altar' inscribed with five crosses. A 12th-century stone font, brought from an earlier church, is also preserved. The church contains timber pews.

A coursed red sandstone boundary wall to the west of the church has small squared terminating piers to north and south with chamfered coping. An off-centre-left entrance is flanked by taller squared piers with shaped caps and slightly lower wing walls; a pair of later decorative wrought-iron gates occupies the gateway.