St Anne's Church, Singleton

St Anne's Church is in Church Road, Singleton, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Poulton, the archdeaconry of Lancaster, and the Diocese of Blackburn. Its benefice is united with those of St Chad, Poulton, and St Hilda, Carleton.[1] It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[2]

St Anne's Church, Singleton
St Anne's Church, Singleton
St Anne's Church, Singleton Location in the Borough of Fylde
OS grid reference	SD 3850 3837
Location	Church Road, Singleton, Lancashire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Anne, Singleton
History
Status	Parish church
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	11 June 1986
Architect(s)	E. G. Paley
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1859
Completed	1860
Administration
Parish	Singleton St Anne
Deanery	Poulton
Archdeaconry	Lancaster
Diocese	Blackburn
Province	York
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Martin Keighley
Curate(s)	Revd Carolyn Leitch
Laity
Reader(s)	Tom Boyd
Organist(s)	Tony Brindle-Wills
Churchwarden(s)	Frank Loftus. Hilary Loftus. John Highton
Parish administrator	Mrs Yvonne Coop

History

The church was built to replace an earlier church that had been demolished in 1859. It was paid for by Thomas Miller, a Preston mill owner, who had purchased the Singleton estate. It was built between 1859 and 1860, and designed by the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley.[3] In 1938–39 the successors on Paley's practice, now known as Austin and Paley, added a vestry at a cost of £775.[4] The church was designated as a Grade II listed building on 11 June 1986.[2] Grade II listing is for buildings that are "nationally important and of special interest".[5]

Architecture

The church designed in the Early English style. It is constructed of sandstone rubble and has a slate roof. The plan consists of a nave, chancel, south transept and a steeple to the north-east. There are no aisles. The steeple has angled buttresses and is topped by a broach spire.[2] The authors of the Buildings of England series express the opinion that the steeple is "well-proportioned".[6] The windows have plate tracery; most are two-light and there are four-light dormers at the east end of the nave. The chancel has a wagon roof. Inside the church are monuments to the Miller family of Singleton Hall.[6]

Organ

The organ was installed c 1875, and built by the Huddersfield-based Peter Conacher. It is positioned in South chancel, and has a pleasing pipe rack. The instrument consists of two manuals and a radiating pedal board.

Pedal Keys 30 1 Bourdon 16

Great Keys 56

            2 Open Diapason 8 
            3 Stop Diapason 8 
            4 Salicional 8 
            5 Principal 4 
            6 Flute 4

Swell Keys 56 Enclosed

            7 Flute d'Amour 8 
            8 Gamba 8 
            9 Voix Celeste 8 
            10 Gemshorn 4 
            11 Cornopean

Couplers Swell to Pedal Swell to Great Great to Pedal

Organists

Tony Brindle-Wills 2008 to present Christopher Robinson 1998 - 2008 Others to be added following research

Choir

The church currently has a small choir of 6. In years gone by, the church had a full SATB robed choir. A visiting choir called "The Occasional Singers", regularly visit the church to perform at weddings and funerals. The church has over 20 weddings a year.

Bell Tower

The church does not have a resident group of bell-ringers. However, a group of bell-ringers from Kirkham attend the church for weddings.

External features

The church lychgate listed at Grade II. It is constructed of timber with a red tile roof. An inscription reads "T.H. Miller 1879".[7] The churchyard contains the war graves of two soldiers of World War I.[8]

See also

• Listed buildings in Singleton, Lancashire
• List of ecclesiastical works by E. G. Paley

References

Citations

1. St Anne, Singleton, retrieved 4 June 2012
2. Historic England, "Church of St Anne, Singleton (1072038)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 June 2012
3. Brandwood et al. 2012, p. 219.
4. Brandwood et al. 2012, p. 255.
5. Listed Buildings, English Heritage, retrieved 4 June 2012
6. Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, p. 613.
7. Historic England, "Lychgate to Church of St Anne, Singleton (1164197)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 June 2012
8. GREAT SINGLETON (ST. ANNE) CHURCHYARD, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 17 February 2013

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], Lancashire: North, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 613, ISBN 978-0-300-12667-9