Christ Church, Chatburn
Christ Church is in the village of Chatburn, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Whalley, the archdeaconry of Blackburn and the diocese of Blackburn. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
History
Construction of the church began in 1837, the architect being Edmund Sharpe of Lancaster. It was one of Sharpe's first commissions and one of his early churches in Romanesque style. The church was founded by Dixon Robinson, steward of the Honour of Clitheroe who, together with his older brother William, partly paid for it. The foundation stone was laid on 22 June 1837. Under the stone a bottle was placed containing coins, medals, and a copy of the Blackburn Standard. An article in the Blackburn Standard suggested that Christ Church was the first to be commenced during the reign of Queen Victoria. The estimated cost of the church was £950, towards which the Incorporated Church Building Society contributed a grant of £250. It provided seating for 364 people. The church was consecrated on 18 September 1838 by the Bishop of Chester.On 3 May 1854 the spire was struck by lightning, damaging both the spire and the tower. In 1881 it was decided to enlarge the church, and the architect Frederick Josias Robinson, son of Dixon Robinson, who was practising in Derby, was commissioned to design and supervise this. The nave was widened by the addition of north and south aisles, and the chancel by the addition of a north transept, acting as an organ chamber, and a south transept, used as a choir vestry. This was carried out in 1882–83. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner remarks on the uniform architectural style used by the two architects, writing "all is so entirely of a piece".