MAIN ENTRANCE
St. Margaret’s is a wonderful church with much for the visitor to see.
This short guided tour takes you through ten of the building’s highlights – although, as with every great church, the longer you linger and look, the more detail you will see!
- The Font. Of marble and Bath stone, with an ornate cover. The Font is important as it is here that Christians receive the Sacrament of Baptism through which they enter the Church family.
The Font
The Pulpit. Of Bath stone with marble details and five carved likenesses of Saints in gold-painted wood. Pulpits were designed for the preaching of the Gospel, elevating the speaker above the congregation for acoustic effect.
The Jesus Chapel. A later addition to the church by H.B. Adderley in 1924. The reredos (illustrated screen behind the Altar) is richly decorated. The stained glass windows were relocated from the aisle which was taken down to allow the chapel’s construction.
The Organ. Although no longer operational, the Organ is regarded as one of the finest instruments in Liverpool. It is by Henry “Father” Willis and contemporary with the opening of the church. It is largely in original condition and so is listed as Grade I by the British Institute of Organ Studies.
Richly-decorated organ pipework.
The Robert Horsfall Memorial Brass. The church’s Founder is
remembered in this brass plaque which dates from shortly after his death in 1881.
The East Window. Much of St. Margaret’s stained glass is original, by Clayton & Bell. However the East Window was destroyed in World War II (in which many Liverpool churches were completely flattened) and a replacement, by Nicholson, installed. The central theme is the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the image of the Priest holding up the Chalice towards the Crucifixion scene is clear evidence that this church sits firmly within the Anglo-Catholic tradition within the Church of England.
The Reredos features a reproduction of Fouquet’s 15th Century painting “St. Margaret and Olybrius” (see page 13).
The Lady Chapel. Of note here is a stained glass window, postwar, by Nicholson, dedicated to seamen and in particular to H.M.S. Lively, a Royal Navy L-class Destroyer built just across the Mersey at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead. Though her career was short (she was launched in January 1941 and sunk on 11th May 1942 with the loss of 77 souls) she won five Battle Honours.
Dragons designed by children from St. Margaret’s school, which was closed in 2010. The mythical creatures symbolise those things in life against which people of faith are called upon to wage war: cruelty, injustice, intolerance and the like. Colourful and creative in their execution, they brighten the church up and show that it is a place of spiritual nurture for all ages.
The Wedding Feast At Cana. St. Margaret’s is richly decorated throughout with wall paintings, of which the scene on the West wall depicting the first recorded Miracle of Jesus is one of the best. The wall paintings were restored in 1967 although subsequent water ingress problems have caused some to be damaged.
Detail of “The Wedding Feast At Cana”.
Vicar of St Margaret’s jailed: Read about the case of Father James Bell Cox