Diameter: 15" Bell 1 of 1
Founded by Unidentified (blank)
Dove Bell ID: 58132 Tower ID: 22408 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Norris Bank: St Martin
Overview
Grid reference: SJ 880 904
Built 1899-1901, designed by R B Preston, the Diocesan Surveyor, who also designed nearby Heaton Norris All Saints, which has many similarities. St Martin’s was never completed, the west end truncated and the planned tower never built. The church is designed in the Early English style, with lancets throughout, some with Y-tracery, all with plain hoodmoulds.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
3-bay aisled nave, north porch, 3-bay chancel with north vestry and organ chamber and south chapel, short west lobby.
Dimensions:
Nave c 14m (45 ft) x 8m (26ft).
Description of Archaeology and History
Built 1899-1901, designed by R B Preston, the Diocesan Surveyor, who also designed nearby Heaton Norris All Saints, which has many similarities. St Martin’s was never completed, the west end truncated and the planned tower never built. The west end lobby has been converted into a tiny space for meetings and as a creche. The nave pews have been made moveable, and the choir stalls removed.
Exterior Description
The church is designed in the Early English style, with lancets throughout, some with Y-tracery, all with plain hoodmoulds. The church appears unbalanced due to the truncated west end, and the articulation of the exterior is very awkward. The complexity of the roofs causes serious maintenance problems, with some hidden valleys.
The nave roof is carried unbroken over the chancel, with a small fleche marking the interface, from which the lead facing has peeled away. The nave has 2-light lancets to each bay except for the blind western bay. The west bay of the chancel and vestry are expressed as double-gabled transepts with a Y-tracery 2-light window to each, although they do not actually protrude beyond the lean-to east bay.
A small porch is appended to the south “transept”, reached by a flight of steps within a wall. It has a flat roof and central gablet of terracotta. The doorway itself is rectangular and plain, terracotta frame, similar 2-light window adjacent. The west façade is very plain, it has a simple bell canopy above a small lean-to lobby with a pair of 2-light domestic windows. The chancel has a clearstorey with a lancet to each bay and a 5-light east window, and the south chapel a 3-light, all with simple tracery. The vestry has a plain stack breaking through the chancel roof.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
Early 20th Century
East window by Reuben Bennett of Old Trafford, the Crucifixion with Christ in Glory above, a World War I memorial.
Stained Glass
1910
Good chapel east window with deeply coloured and animated figures. c 1910, Pratt family memorial. The Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:32) by An Tur Gloine (The Tower of Glass) of Dublin, and very likely by Catherine O'Brien. The National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, may hold the cartoon for this window.
Stained Glass
Early 20th Century
North aisle:
- Single light Christ as Light of the world. After Holman Hunt.
- Single light Mary Magdalene washes Christ’s feet.
Stained Glass
Early 20th Century, various
South aisle:
- Single light with Suffer the Children, after 1940 in memory of Mary Ann Rothwell.
- The Good Samaritan, same artist, all these four possibly Abbott & Co of Lancaster.
- 2-light “Our brother shall rise” John 11:23, in memory of Martin Bennett, died 1926, by Burlison & Grylls.
- 2-light Christ in the house of Martha and Mary by Burlison & Grylls, 1920s. The left arm of Christ has been repaired and is a poor match.
- 2-light Virgin and Child, by Burlison & Grylls, these three windows a set.
Building Materials
Brick
Common yellow brick laid in header bond
Terracotta
Bands and dressings
Interior
Interior Description
The visual impression is dominated by the use of cream paint, except the east chancel wall which is turquoise, and the liberal use of wood, with panelling around the chancel and chapel walls and a full set of pews (plain benches with curved end panels) in the nave and aisles. The chapel has similar pews, but light stained. The stained glass windows also help to impart warmth.
The nave and chancel arcade arches have hollow mouldings which die into the square piers, and similar arches open off the east end of the aisles. There is a triforium each side of the nave, with 2-light blind arches with square openings to the aisle roof spaces. The roof has a cruck structure with tie-beams, supported by arch-braces taken down to corbels. The floors of nicely laid stone flags in a lozenge pattern except for the chancel and chapel which are laid with red carpet.
The tall chancel has a pointed chancel arch of two orders, the inner taken down to moulded corbels, the outer dying into the wall. There is a low wooden chancel screen. The roof is a wagon construction.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
1900
Oak chests table in chancel and chapel, the former with some tracery elaboration.
Reredos
1900
Wooden reredos at the east end behind the high altar and chapel altar, the former with a cornice and open tracery decoration, the latter simpler.
Pulpit
1900
Hexagonal oak pulpit with cusped open tracery panels.
Lectern
1900
Oak reredos, ornately carved with symbols of the Evangelists to the corners. Also plainer lectern with tracery decoration.
Font (object)
1900
Plain octagonal
Rail
1900
Oak with traceried standards and moulded rail.
Bells
Churchyard
Grid reference: SJ 880 904
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Quinquennial Inspections
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