Trail:

St George, Everton

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Liverpool, St George, Everton

"St George was built 1813-14. This was the first of three churches erected by John Cragg, employing cast-iron parts manufactured at his Mersey Iron Foundry (the others were St Philip and St Michael-in-the-Hamlet). Cragg had been planning a church for Toxteth Park. J.M. Gandy produced designs in 1809, and in 1812 Cragg met Thomas Rickman and had him make new drawings. Then the opportunity to build in Everton arose, and the church went ahead on the present site. It is impossible to disentangle Cragg, Gandy and Rickman's contributions. Some cast-iron elements shown in Gandy's drawings are very closeGlossary Term to the executed building, but these could have been designed by Cragg before Gandy's involvement. Certainly Cragg had already cast some components before Rickman appeared on the scene.

The exterior is largely of stone, the style Perp. High W tower with pierced battlements (original?). Large Perp three-lightGlossary Term windows along the sides, with cast-iron traceryGlossary Term. The buttresses between had cast-iron pinnacles, now removed. Six-lightGlossary Term E window in short embattledGlossary Term chancelGlossary Term. The galleried interior is a delightful surprise, extraordinarily lightGlossary Term and delicate due to the use of cast ironGlossary Term throughout. Slender clustered columns divide naveGlossary Term from aisles. Traceried arches span between the columns to support the naveGlossary Term ceiling, and between the columns and the outer wall to carry the flat ceilings over the aisles (the tie-rods are a 20th century insertion). Further traceried arches support the galleries, which cut across the windows. The ceilings are of slate slabs slotted between the cast-iron raftersGlossary Term, with cast-iron traceryGlossary Term on the underside. Thicker slabs of slate attached to the upper edge of the raftersGlossary Term form the roof - a system patented by Cragg in 1809. Monuments. Under the tower, John Rackham, d. 1815, a tablet with an ambitious Dec GothicGlossary Term surround, designed by Rickman and carved by S. & J. Franceys. - In the S galleryGlossary Term, Thomas W. Wainwright (a surgeon), d. 1841, with a relief of the Good Samaritan by W. Spence. - In the N galleryGlossary Term, Walter Fergus MacGregor, d. 1863, an elaborate GothicGlossary Term tabernacleGlossary Term incorporating a portrait roundel, by E.E. Geflowski. - Stained glass mostly destroyed in the war. The third window on the N is the only complete survivor, 1863, by A. Gibbs. E window 1952, by Shrigley & Hunt."

Glossary

Cast iron

Hard and brittle iron, cast in a mould to the required shape rather than forged. Compare wrought iron.

Chancel

The eastern part or end of a church, where the altar is placed; usually set apart for the clergy.

Close

The precinct of a cathedral. Also (Scots) a courtyard or passage giving access to a number of buildings.

Embattled

With battlements.

Gallery

A long room or passage; an upper storey above the aisles of a church, looking through arches to the nave; a balcony or mezzanine overlooking the main interior space of a building; or an external walkway.

Gothic

The style of the Middle Ages from the later 12th century to the Renaissance, with which it co-existed in certain forms into the 17th century. Characterized in its full development by the pointed arch, the rib-vault and an often skeletal masonry structure for churches, combined with large glazed windows. The term was originally associated with the concept of the barbarian Goths as assailants of classical civilization.

Light

Compartment of a window defined by the uprights or mullions.

Nave

The body of a church west of the crossing or chancel, often flanked by aisles.

Rafters

Inclined lateral timbers supporting the roof covering. Common rafters: regularly spaced uniform rafters placed along the length of a roof or between principals; also called coupled rafters. Principal rafters: rafters which also act as principals, i.e. the paired inclined lateral timbers of a truss.

Tabernacle

Canopied structure in a church or chapel to contain the reserved sacrament or a relic. Also an architectural frame for an image or statue.

Tracery

Openwork pattern of masonry or timber in an opening, especially the upper part of an opening; most common in Gothic architecture. Blind tracery is applied to a solid wall. Plate tracery, the earliest form, introduced c. 1200, has shapes cut through solid masonry. Bar tracery, introduced c. 1250, has patterns are formed by intersecting moulded ribwork continuing upwards from the mullions. Bar tracery types include: curvilinear tracery, with uninterrupted flowing curves, typical of the 14th century (also called flowing tracery); geometrical tracery, typical of c.1250-c.1310, which uses simple forms, especially circles, chiefly foiled; intersecting tracery, used c. 1300, formed by interlocking mullions each branching out in two curved bars of the same radius but different centres; loop tracery (Scots), used c. 1500-45, with large uncusped loop-like forms; panel tracery, with even upright divisions made by a horizontal transom or transoms; reticulated tracery, early 14th century, with net-like patterns of ogee- (double-curved) ended lozenges; Y-tracery, used c. 1300, which branches into a Y-shape.

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