St Luke's Church, Formby
St Luke's Church is in St Luke's Church Road, Formby, Sefton, Merseyside, England, and is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Liverpool. The original chapel on the site was destroyed by a sandstorm in 1739. It was replaced by the present church in 1854, and this was extended in 1897. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
History
Little is known of the early history of the church, but the presence of a 12th-century font in the church is evidence that it stands on an ancient site. This church was destroyed in a sandstorm in 1739. The idea for rebuilding a church on the site came in the 1840s from Rev Miles Formby, former vicar of St Thomas, Melling. He died in 1849, but the building of the church was continued by his older brother Dr Richard Formby, who owned and donated the land. The money for building the church was given by Miles' widow and his sister, Mary. The church was dedicated to Saint Luke, the patron saint of doctors. It was designed by the Liverpool architect William Culshaw. At this time only the nave and porch were built, and these were consecrated by the Rt Revd John Graham, bishop of Chester, on 14 December 1854. The chancel and transepts were added in 1897, and paid for by Caroline, daughter of Dr Richard Formby.Architecture
St Luke's is constructed in rock-faced stone with ashlar dressings and slate roofs. It consists of a five-bay nave, north and south transepts, a chancel, a south porch, and a bellcote on the west gable. Along the sides of the nave the bays are separated by buttresses and contain two-light windows containing Geometrical tracery. At the west end are diagonal buttresses, a three-light window with a hood mould above, and a rose window over that. The transepts contain two-light windows, and at the corners of the chancel are angle buttresses. The east window has three lights, and surmounting the chancel is a parapet pierced with quatrefoils.Inside the church is a simple Norman font decorated with rope moulding. In the porch is the gravestone of Richard Formby, an armour bearer to Henry IV. This was brought from York Minster to replace a facsimile gravestone given by Richard Formby. The stained glass in the west window includes medical inscriptions, and the rose window above contains depictions of local flowers. The original pipe organ was built in 1909 by the Orchestrelle Company. This was replaced in 1958 by a two-manual organ by Henry Willis & Sons. In about 1970 it was moved from the south to the north transept and altered by Francis Kitts Ainscough, but has since been removed from the church. The present organ is a three-manual electronic organ made by Phoenix.