St Paul's Church, Boughton

This article is about St. Paul's Church in Boughton, Chester, England. For other churches named St. Paul's, see St. Paul's Church (disambiguation).

St Paul's Church, Boughton
St Paul's Church, Boughton, from the southeast
St Paul's Church, Boughton Location in Cheshire
OS grid reference	SJ 418 665
Location	Chester, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Churchmanship	Open Evangelical Charismatic
History
Status	Parish church
Architecture
Functional status	Defunct
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	10 January 1972
Architect(s)	John Douglas
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1905
Closed	2016
Specifications
Materials	Red brick with stone dressings; timber framing Slate roofs
Administration
Province	York
Diocese	Chester
Parish	St Paul, Chester

St Paul's Church overlooks the River Dee in Boughton, Chester, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and, before its closure, was an Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of that diocese. In the series Buildings of England, the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner stated that he regarded it as "the boldest of Douglas' church designs".

It ceased to be a church in 2016, when it was closed by the Diocese, as it was found to be in very bad repair. It was named by the Victorian Society as one of the Top Ten Heritage Buildings at Risk for 2016.

History

The first church on the site was built in 1830 in stuccoed brick. Its style was Italianate with round-headed windows and a northwest campanile. The architect was William Cole the younger. It was virtually rebuilt in 1876 to a design by John Douglas, who added the south aisle in 1902, and the spire in 1905.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in red brick with stone dressings and in timber framing with brick and plaster panels. The roof has grey and grey-green slates. Its plan consists of a through nave and chancel of four bays plus an apsidal bay, a south aisle, a west porch and a broach spire at the west end. Most of the windows are lancets.

Interior

Pevsner commented that the strength of the interior lies in its timber-work. The walls are decorated with stencilled patterns in the Arts and Crafts manner. The wrought iron screen is by Douglas. The stained glass dated 1887 in the north aisle is by Kempe and that in the baptistry is by Frampton. The rest of the stained glass was made by Morris & Co. Two of the windows were designed by Burne-Jones, others by Morris himself, and the latest windows dating from 1925 to 1927 are by Henry Dearle. The reredos is a war memorial dated 1920 by H. G. Hiller. Also in the church is a monument from the older church dated 1845. The three-manual organ was built by James J. Binns of Leeds.

See also

• Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire West and Chester
• List of church restorations, amendments and furniture by John Douglas

References

Citations

Sources

• Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
• Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hubbard, Edward (2003) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09588-0