OS grid reference SJ 900,889 Denomination Anglican Dedication Saint George Capacity 1,200 | Country England Website St George, Stockport Opened 1897 Phone +44 161 480 2453 | |
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Location Buxton Road, Heaviley, Stockport,
Greater Manchester Address 28 Buxton Rd, Stockport SK2 6NU, UK Parish Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Similar St Mary's Church - Stockport, St Thomas' Church - Stockport, St George's Church - Poynton, Nevill Road Infants Sc, Vernon Park | ||
St George's Church is in Buxton Road, Heaviley, an area of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Stockport, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. Its benefice is united with that of St Gabriel, Adswood. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The authors of the Buildings of England series express the opinion that it is "by far the grandest church of Stockport", and state "St George is a church on a splendid scale". According to the visitors' guide to the church, the Rt Revd Geoffrey Fisher, former Archbishop of Canterbury, said that it is "the finest church built in England since the Reformation".
Contents
History
The foundation stone was laid in 1893, and the church was consecrated on 25 February 1897. It was designed by Hubert Austin of the Lancaster architectural practice of Paley, Austin and Paley. The church forms part of a group of buildings, also including the vicarage and schools, that were paid for by George Fearn, a local brewer. The total cost of the church and its associated buildings is said to have been nearly £80,000 (equivalent to £8,040,000 in 2015).
Exterior
The church is constructed in Runcorn red sandstone. Its architectural style is Perpendicular, with "traces of Art Nouveau". Its plan consists of a six-bay nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, north and south porches, a tower at the crossing, and a chancel and sanctuary with a Lady Chapel to the north, an organ chamber to the south, and a vestry to the southeast. The tower has an embattled parapet with corner pinnacles linked by flying buttresses to the spire. At the east end, flanking the windows, are large buttresses. The east and west windows have seven lights, and the windows along the sides of the nave have four lights. The church is 180 feet (55 m) long and 75 feet (23 m) wide, the tower is 112 feet (34 m) high, and with the spire raises to 236 feet (72 m).
Interior
The reredos is made from Derbyshire alabaster. It contains three carved panels, the central one depicting the Crucifixion, and the others the Virgin Mary and Saint John. The font is also of Derbyshire alabaster, and is carved with foliage. Both were carved by Robert Bridgeman of Lichfield. The pulpit contains six niches containing the figures of Saint Paul, Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, Saint Luke, Saint John, and Saint Peter. The lectern consists of a brass eagle standing on a pedestal supported by lions. The Lady Chapel is separated from the chancel by a carved oak screen, and contains a carved oak reredos including the figures of Saint John the Divine and Saint John the Baptist. There is stained glass only in the east and west windows, and in one window in the south aisle; it is all by Shrigley and Hunt. The east window includes a depiction of Saint George and the Dragon. The three-manual organ was built in 1897 by Forster and Andrews at a cost of £1,710 (equivalent to £170,000 in 2015). It was rebuilt in 1936 by the John Compton Organ Company. Further work was carried out on the organ in 1981 by Rushworth and Dreaper. The organ case was designed by Austin. There is a ring of ten bells, all of which were cast in 1896 by Mears and Stainbank at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.