The Church Building
The Church of Our Lady & All Saints Parbold is a Grade II listed building. It was built to designs by Edmund Kirby (1838-1920), a relatively local architect from Liverpool. Kirby was articled to E.W. Pugin in London before becoming an assistant to John Douglas in Chester. He established his independent practice in 1867 and much of his work was for the Roman Catholic Church in northwest England.
EXTERIOR
The Church was built between May 1878 and May 1884 at a cost of £12,000. It is constructed of Sandstone rubble with slate roofs. It comprises a western Tower, 165 feet high, with Spire, Nave with Clerestory, north and south Aisles, south main Porch and minor Porch, lowered Chancel, north Chapel, south Chapel and south Vestry.
The Tower has angle buttresses and corner pinnacles, a bell stage with trefoiled lancet openings and a 4-light west window with traceried head. The stone Spire has lucarnes.
The Nave is of five bays. The Clerestory windows are triple stepped lancets, The Aisles are lit by trefoiled lancets, mostly paired, separated by buttresses.
The main Porch has a moulded pointed outer doorway. At the east end of the Chancel is a Rose Window.
INTERIOR
A five bay Nave arcade of pointed arches which have inner chamfers and outer mouldings, springing from round piers with moulded caps.
The tower Arch is pointed and has paired engaged shafts as responds.
The chancel Arch is also pointed and has paired engaged shafts as responds. The nave Roof is boarded and has trusses with arched braces on corbelled wallposts. Arches open into the north transeptal Chapel from the Aisle and the Chancel-Retro Choir. The south Chapel has one arched entrance from the Aisle and two Arches opening from the Chancel-Retro Choir.
The Chancel-Retro Choir has an arched ceiling divided by two ribs with stencil decoration. At the east end is a stone Reredos with carved figures of nine Angels and an elaborately carved and crocketed Ciborium.
Alterations
In 1973 the Pulpit was removed from the south east corner of the Nave.
In 1984 a small porch was constructed under the south side of the Tower. The area under the Tower became a Cry Room for the weekend and a weekday Chapel during the week, the Lady Altar having been taken from the Lady Altar to the Day Chapel.
The Altar Rails were removed, the Font was taken from the back of the Church and placed at the site of the former pulpit. Both Altar Rails and Fonts were not made for Our Lady’s Church. They were intended for a Church in the Argentine which defaulted on payment!
The High Altar was lowered two steps (to be five steps higher than the Nave instead of seven steps) and moved forward by five feet.
In 2003, the High Altar was moved to the front of the Chancel and lowered another step to be four steps above the Nave level. The floor off the Chancel was raised to four steps and moved forward to under the nave Arch. A Retro-Choir was formed in the Chancel. The Font was returned to its original site at the north west rear of the Church.
The Lady Altar was returned to the Lady Chapel from the Day Chapel-Cry Room.
The Day Chapel-Cry Room had a kitchenette installed to allow the area to become a Meeting Room.
In Autumn 2022, in an effort to reduce the ever-increasing fuel bills, the room was again used as a Day Chapel, where daily Mass was held, to avoid heating the main body of the church. A secondhand, portable wooden alter was purchased and curtains made as a backdrop behind the altar to cover the cupboards.
Meetings and social gatherings were then held in the newly established Parish room (former parish priest’s study) in the Priory.