St Nicholas Church, Wrea Green

St Nicholas Church is in the village of Wrea Green, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Kirkham, the archdeaconry of Lancaster and the diocese of Blackburn. Its benefice is combined with those of St Matthew, Ballam and St Michael, Weeton.^[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.^[2]

St Nicholas Church, Wrea Green
St Nicholas Church from the south
St Nicholas Church, Wrea Green Location in the Borough of Fylde
53.7773°N 2.9155°W / 53.7773; -2.9155
OS grid reference	SD 397,316
Location	Wrea Green, Lancashire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Official website St Nicholas, Wrea Green
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	Saint Nicholas
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	11 June 1986
Architect(s)	Sharpe and Paley, Paley and Austin
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	(original church 1721) 1848
Completed	1884
Administration
Province	York
Diocese	Blackburn
Archdeaconry	Lancaster
Deanery	Kirkham
Parish	Ribby cum Wrea St Nicholas
Clergy
Priest(s)	Rev R. W. Marks
Laity
Reader(s)	Mrs B. Cooper-Longworth, Mr A. Brindle
Churchwarden(s)	Mr T. Slater, Mr J. W. Dobson

History

In 1721 the trustees of Nicolas Sharples' charity bought a plot of ground in the village from a Jane Whiteside and erected on it a small chapel, paid for by funds they had raised amongst themselves. The church was licensed for services in 1722 and was consecrated by the Bishop of Chester on 20 June 1755. In 1846 an order in council added to the township of Ribby with Wrea the township of Westby (without the two Plumptons) and formed them into the new parish of Ribby with Wrea, making it a perpetual curacy. In 1869 it became a titular vicarage. The small chapel was pulled down and on 13 May 1848 the new vicar, G L Parsons, laid the foundation stone for the present structure.^[3]

The church was rebuilt in 1848–49 by the Lancaster architects Sharpe and Paley at a cost of about £1,600 (equivalent to £210,000 as of 2023).^[4][5] It opened on 23 September 1849 but was not consecrated until 4 May 1855.^[3] In 1857 the pulpit, organ chamber, vestry, and stalls were added, but the architect responsible for this is not known.^[5] The steeple was added in 1884 by the successors in the same practice, Paley and Austin at a cost of £1,300.^[6] In 1931–32 Henry Paley of the same practice, now called Austin and Paley, added a marble floor to the chancel, new steps, and new choir seats.^[7] An extension at west end of the church, completed in 2007, provided the village with a fully-equipped community centre.^[8]

Architecture

Exterior

St Nicholas Church is constructed in sandstone rubble and has blue slate roofs. Its architectural style is Early English. The plan consists of a four-bay nave, with a tower attached to its south side, and a chancel with two short bays. The tower is in three stages and has a south doorway and a polygonal stair turret at its northwest corner. The middle stage houses a gabled niche containing a statue, and in the top stage are three-light louvered bell openings. On the tower is a broach spire with a two-light lucarne on each cardinal side.^[2] The windows in each bay of the nave consist of a pair of lancet windows with a circular window at the top. In the chancel is a three-light east window containing Geometrical tracery, and two double lancets on the south side. The west window consists of a double lancet above which is a sexfoil rose window.^[9]

Interior

Inside the church is a carved and gilded reredos and a stone pulpit. The east window contains stained glass by Shrigley and Hunt.^[10] The two-manual pipe organ was made in 1988 by Sixsmith, replacing an earlier organ by T. and C. Lane dating from about 1880.^[11]

See also

• Lancashire portal

• Listed buildings in Ribby-with-Wrea
• List of works by Sharpe and Paley
• List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin
• List of ecclesiastical works by Austin and Paley (1916–44)

References

Citations

1. "St Nicholas, Ribby w Wrea". A Church Near You. Church of England. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
2. Historic England, "Church of St Nicholas, Ribby with Wrea (1072037)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 30 May 2012
3. Porter 1876, p. 406.
4. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)", MeasuringWorth, retrieved 7 May 2024
5. Brandwood et al. 2012, p. 215.
6. Brandwood et al. 2012, p. 235.
7. Brandwood et al. 2012, p. 253.
8. Wrea Green Neighbourhood Plan 2011 (PDF), Wrea Green Parish Council, 29 October 2011, p. 5, archived from the original on 4 March 2016
9. Hughes 2010, p. 221.
10. Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, p. 571.
11. "NPOR [S00084]", National Pipe Organ Register, British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 1 July 2020

Sources

• Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, ISBN 978-1-84802-049-8
• Hartwell, Clare; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2009) [1969], The Buildings of England. Lancashire: North, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-12667-9
• Hughes, John M. (2010), Edmund Sharpe: Man of Lancaster, John M. Hughes
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.:
  • Porter, John (1876). "Chapter XIII". History of the Fylde of Lancashire. Fleetwood and Blackpool: W. Porter and Sons. pp. 402–428.