St John the Baptist's Church, Atherton

There have been three chapels or churches on the site of St John the Baptist parish church. The first chapel at Chowbent was built in 1645 by John Atherton as a chapel of ease of Leigh Parish Church. It was sometimes referred to as the Old Bent Chapel. It was not consecrated and used by the Presbyterians as well as the Vicar of Leigh. In 1721 Lord of the manor Richard Atherton expelled the dissenters who subsequently built Chowbent Chapel. The first chapel was consecrated in 1723 by the Bishop of Sodor and Man. The first chapel was replaced by a new St John's Chapel on the same site which was consecrated by the Bishop of Chester in 1814. It was in turn replaced by the present church, designed by the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin. It was built in two phases. The chancel and first three bays of the nave were built in 1878–79, and consecrated in 1879. The cost was £10,000 (equivalent to £ in ), of which £3,200 was given by the colliery owners Fletcher, Burrows and Company. The west end, which included a modified version of the southwest tower high, was completed between 1890 and 1896 by the successors in the Lancaster practice, Paley, Austin and Paley. From 1899 the church was affected by mining subsidence, causing the tower to separate from the south aisle. The tower has been stabilised, but remains out of alignment and is leaning. In 1991 the east end of the church was badly damaged by fire. It was repaired and re-ordered by Peter Skinner in 1996–97; the re-ordering included dividing the chancel from the rest of the church to create a church hall. ==Architecture==

Exterior The church is constructed in Runcorn sandstone with ashlar dressings and a tiled roof. Its architectural style is that of the late Decorated period. The plan consists of a five-bay nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, a two-bay chancel with a north chapel and a south two-storey vestry and organ chamber, and a southwest tower. The tower is in five stages with octagonal buttresses at each corner, which rise above the parapet to form turrets with conical caps. The parapet is embattled. The doorway is on the south side of the tower, and above it is a four-light window. There are clock faces in the fourth stage, and the bell openings in the top stage have four lights. Above each bell opening is a statue in a canopied niche. On the south side of the church the windows have four lights, while those on the north side have three lights. replacing an earlier three-manual organ of 1888 by J. C. Bishop and Son. Appraisal The church was designated as a Grade II listed building on 15 July 1966. The description in the National Heritage List for England states that it is "an imposing building which exhibits fine craftsmanship both inside and out". The authors of the Buildings of England series describe the church as "monumental, one of Paley & Austin's best", and state that the tower is "magnificently monumental". Brandwood et al. in their book on the architectural practice of Sharpe, Paley and Austin agree that it is "one of Paley & Austin's finest churches". ==See also==