Summary : A Roman Catholic Church, which was built 1845-1849 to designs by J.J .Scoles, with a Lady Chapel added in 1888, designed by E. Kirby. The building of the main church was encouraged by the St. Francis Xavier Society and was associated with a college, which was under the aegis of the Jesuits. (The former college buildings are now part of Hope University). The church is constructed of stone with a slate roof. It comprises a broad, high nave with aisles under seperate roofs; a short , elevated chancel flanked by chapels and a tower to the south-west with a spire. The main church is in a Victorian free interpretation of the form of Gothic style known as "Decorated". The design allowed for the later internal addition of side altars. The Lady Chapel (also known as a sodality chapel) is furnished in a version of the Medieval Early English Style. It contains a number of altars of pious lay associations known as "Sodalities". The interior of the church was enriched over the course of the remaining 19th and early 20th centuries. The hanging cross (rood) under the chancel arch was made by Earley or Earley and Powell in 1866. The Altar of the Annunciation in the chancel features marble reliefs by Boulton of Cheltenham and a tabernacle with reliefs thought to be by Conrad Dressler. The Sacred Heart Chapel was designed by S.J. Nicholl. The church escaped destruction in the heavy bombing of the surrounding area during the Second World War but it did sustain some damage that contributed to part of the roof collapsing in 1948. The church is situated in the Shaw Street Conservation Area. |
More information : (SJ 35649115) St Francis Xavier's RC Church (NAT) (1) SJ 3591 SALISBURY STREET L3 23/1087 Roman Catholic Church of Saint Francis Xavier 28.6.52 G.V. II* Catholic church. 1845-9. J. J. Scoles, the Lady Chapel added 1888 by E. Kirby. Stone with slate roof. Geometrical. Name with aisles under separate roofs, short chancel flanked by chapels with Lady chapel to 'SE' (ritual 'W' is actual N). Tower to south west has spire. Aisles have 2-light windows, north aisle has 8 to north, one to west. Nave has 4-light west windows and wheel window above, no clerestory. Tower has set-back buttresses and pointed arched entrances to south. 3-light bell openings and recessed spire behind altered parapet has lucarnes and diapered bands; 4 pinnacles at the angles of tower. Chancel of one bay has canted end with 2-light windows. Lady chapel is of 2 bays with canted corner bays. Buttresses end in pinnacles, 2 light windows; 3-light west window. Interior: Nave has 7-bay arcades on slender marble columns (now painted). Wagon roof with iron ties. Chancel arch. North aisle has trefoil heads to confessional entries. High altar and reredos by S. J. Nicholl of white marble, witharcading and pinnacles. Altar rails of coloured marble. Rood under chancel arch. Caen stone pulpit on south side of nave. Chapels have altars and rerdoses similar to High altar. Elaborate stone font at west end of nave. Lady chapel has apsidal ends to west and east, that to east forming ambulatory with arcade on marble columns. Marble wall shafts and ribbed plaster vault. Tabernacle doors said to be by Conrad Dressler. An important church in the alternative tradition to that of A. W. Pugin, and a good, largely unaltered example of Scoles' work. H. R. Hitchcock, Early Victorian Architecture, 1954, p.90. (2)
At time of recording, online version of the Listing is currently available online via the National Heritage List for England. (3)
Church of St. Francis Xavier, Salisbury Road, Everton, Liverpool. A Roman Catholic Church, which was built 1845-1849 to designs by J.J .Scoles, with a Lady Chapel added in 1888, designed by E. Kirby. The building of the main church was "driven" by the St. Francis Xavier Society and was associated with a college, which was under the aegis of the Jesuits. (The former college buildings are now part of Hope University). The church is constructed of stone with a slate roof. It comprises a broad, high nave with aisles under seperate roofs; a short , elevated chancel flanked by chapels and a tower to the south-west with a spire. The nave roof is supported by columns of Drogheda marble. The main church is in a Victorian free interpretation of the form of Gothic style known as "Decorated". The design allowed for the later internal addition of side altars. The Lady Chapel (also known as a sodality chapel) is furnished in a version of the Medieval Early English Style. The interior of the church was enriched over the course of the remaining 19th and early 20th centuries. The hanging cross (rood) under the chancel arch was made by Earley or Earley and Powell in 1866. The Altar of the Annunciation in the chancel features marble relief by Boulton of Cheltenham and a tabernacle with reliefs thought to be by Conrad Dressler. The Sacred Heart Chapel was designed by S.J. Nicholl. The source also has details of the stained glass at the church, some of which is original but mainly dates to after the "Blitz". The church escaped destruction in the heavy bombing of the surrounding area during the Second World War but it did sustain some damage that contributed to part of the roof collapsing in 1948. The 2008 report commissioned by English Heritage and the Archdiocese notes that the church forms a major landmark in the Everton area and describes it as "one of the major monuments of the Catholic and Gothic Revivals in England.....Its richly furnished interior is a showpiece of Victorian furnishing and taste". The church is situated in the Shaw Street Conservation Area. (4)
The 2004 edition of the Pevsner Architectural Guide for Liverpool gives the opening date as 1849. This source explains that the "Sodality Chapel" contains decorated altars of a number of "sodalities" or pious lay associations. The interior odf the church is illustrated in fig. 158. The former Jesuit college and school buildings are also described. (5)
Additional source with colour illustrations. Gives exact address as 2, Salisbury Street. (6) |