
The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland

Merseyside (now)
Parish church
Sefton is a large church mostly of the appearance of late Perpendicular, constructed under three successive rectors of the Molyneux family from 1489-1557. The steeple, line of the previous N aisle and a NE chapel with a double piscina and tomb niche was incorporated into this building. At the E end of the S aisle are a number of architectural fragments, some of which are Romanesque.
Parish church
St Andrew's is basically a Norman church that was extended in the 14thc. and 16thc. The church may have been cruciform, with an aisleless nave, and a three-bay S arcade was added in the 12thc. On the N the aisle windows are early 14thc., so an arcade of some form must have been present by then. In the 16thc. a fourth bay was added to both arcades at the E. The central vessel between the arcades is notably wider in the E bay, and the lines of the arcades have been modified to compensate, apparently in the 1870-72 restoration. On the N side the original arcade was entirely replaced with a copy of the 12thc. S arcade to effect a smooth transition, but on the S only the easternmost Romanesque bay was replaced, and this doglegs to meet the Perpendicular E pier. The S aisle windows have Y-tracery of c.1300, and at the W end of this aisle is the tower, of similar date and with a broach spire. The chancel and its arch are Perpendicular, as are the large chapels to either side of it, with three-bay arcades to the chancel and broad arches to the nave aisles. The restoration was by W.J. and G.A. Ashdown of Liverpool (1870-72). The church is of greyish pink sandstone ashlar.
Parish church
The site is medieval but there are no architectural remains of the old church. The nave was rebuilt in 1743, the chancel in 1810, and the impressive W tower by John Broadbent in 1829-32. Broadbent's tower is essentially the oldest part of the building to remain intact, the N side of the church being remodelled 1840, and the chancel rebuilt again in 1843. A S chapel, ambulatory and vestry was added in 1911. The church was gutted by incendiary bombs and the interior now consists of concrete vaults on a steel frame rising from the floor. The church retains an Anglo-Saxon cross shaft, and a Romanesque font.
Parish church
The Perpendicular W tower is the oldest part of the exterior, most of which was rebuilt 1815-22. On the N side is the strikingly rusticated classical of the Case mausoleum of c.1681. The chancel has been crudely converted into an Early English lancet style but was originally Perpendicular. Inside, the S arcade is 14thc, and the N arcade is a facsimile from the early 19thc revamp. The church has two fonts, one of which is Perpenidcular, and stands by the S door, and the other, at the E end of the S aisle, is Romanesque.
Parish church
Now in the suburbs of Merseyside, Childwall is the only medieval church in the Liverpool metropolitan area. It is essentially late medieval, with 14thc and later masonry all of new red sandstone, typical of Cheshire. The exterior is extremely restored, and the W steeple is Gothick of 1810-11. The arcades are of standard Perp-type, with one pillar removed on each side to allow for a round super-arch to allow visibility from the galleriesd. The church was restored 1851-6, then greatly expanded N with an outer N aisle in 1905-6. There is a single Romanesque capital N of the sanctuary, in an oblong niche.
Benedictine house, former
The priory was originally isolated on a headland overlooking the Mersey, but is now entirely hemmed in by what remains of the shipyard graving docks and by a recently built industrial estate. A promenade has been built along the waterside, offering splendid views of Liverpool across the river, but no part of the priory is visible from this.
The original foundation is attributed to Hamo de Masci, 3rd Baron of Dunham Massey c.1150, but Pevsner prefers a slightly later 12thc. date. What remains is the cloister, without its arcades, and some of the surrounding monastic buildings. It lay to the N of the church, and of this only fragments of the N walls survive. To the E of the cloister square stands the chapter house, of red sandstone, the only part of the original foundation to survive. It is a simple rectangular building of two rib-vaulted bays, preserving only one of its original side windows - a completely plain splayed opening in the S wall of the E bay. The W front has the usual arrangement of a doorway flanked by windows, but these are completely plain and are not described in this report. A second storey was added to it in the 14thc., now called the Scriptorium, although Pevsner doubts whether that was its function. In the N range stands the 14thc. vaulted undercroft of the refectory, and to the W the 13th-14thc. buildings of the guest hall and prior's lodging.
The priory was bought by public subscription in 1896, and Birkenhead Borough Council took responsibility for it. It was restored 1896-98, and the chapter house restored from 1913-19, when it was dedicated as a chapel. Romanesque sculpture is found in the vault supports of the chapter house. This picture is confused by the presence on the same site of the remains of St Mary's church. The church, by Thomas Rickman (1819-21) was built as part of F. R. Price's plan to develop the town as a resort. It was enlarged by the construction of transepts in 1832-35, but closed in 1971 and all except the tower demolished four years later. This remains as a viewpoint.
Parish church, formerly chapel
The previous church was a plain red-brick Georgian chapel of 1766, which may have been built on the site of the medieval church, itself replaced by a massive Neo-Romanesque building to its N built 1869-71 by Lancaster firm Paley and Austin. The two buildings were photographed together but the older building was soon demolished, and its site and small plan is still visible in the graveyard, marked by a monumental cross. The new building is a powerful and essay in Romanesque and Early Gothic, both sympathetic to period motifs and highly inventive. At the W end of the nave is the Romanesque font, which appears to be from the original building.
Parish church, formerly chapel
In 1852-5, St Luke was built on this ancient burial ground. The precise location of the original chapel is not known, and no fragments remain, except the font.