Heritage Open Day at St Thomas the Apostle

This view of St Thomas the Apostle on Lumn Road was taken at the recent Heritage Open Day.

I've already posted a photograph of the Lady Chapel.

St Thomas' church was built in 1868. The architect, Medland Taylor was a Manchester architect who produced a number of fine if quirkish buildings. Locally, he designed St. Anne's, Denton, St. Mar'’s, Haughton Green, Holy Trinity, Hyde and the Library and the Post Office in Stalybridge. At the time when many architects were designing churches in a style they believed to be a copy of Gothic Architecture, Medland was producing an inventive mixture of architectural styles and motifs. For example, St. Thomas' has brick buttresses and window surrounds with stone infilling. Most would have followed the convention and used stone with brick infilling. According to Pevsner, the roof is an example of his humour, having a quirky additional pitch to it. The proportions of the church are such that St. Thomas' appears to be quite a small building, whereas it is fairly large.

The William Morris windows are the Church's glory. I posted a photo of the East window in September 2008; the South window in October 2008 and the North window in November 2008. I've also photographed the Rose Window.

See Old Hyde for a 1920 painting of the church and a look at crockery made for the 125th anniversary of the church.

Visit the church website.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.