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St. Elisabeth's Church
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Anglo-Catholic
Website	www.saintelisabeths.com
History
Dedication	St. Elisabeth
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I listed building
Designated	30 October 1973
Administration
Province	York
Diocese	Manchester
Clergy
Rector	Rev. currently in vacancy
Priest(s)	Rev

St. Elisabeth's Church is an Anglo Catholic church in Reddish, an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, designed by Alfred Waterhouse in the Victorian Gothic style. It is a grade I listed building.

Architecture

Local mill-owner Sir William Houldsworth commissioned Alfred Waterhouse in the 1870s. Construction took place between 1881 and 1883, paid for entirely by Houldsworth, with consecration on 4 August 1883 by Bishop James Fraser. The church could hold 750 people and was named after Houldsworth's wife. Described by Pevsner as "a superb job, big-boned, with nothing mean outside or in", the church is of Openshaw brick with Wrexham stone dressings. An almost separate belltower contains eight bells cast by Taylor. Six of the bells were dedicated by Bishop Francis Cramer-Roberts on May Day 1897.

Pillars supporting the nave's roof were transported from the nearby canal to the site on the backs of elephants from Belle Vue Zoo. There is a marble screen with four figures on top, possibly the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The strikingly modern Stations of the Cross, by Graeme Willson, were commissioned in 1983, and include local views such as Stockport Viaduct, and Pendlebury Hall on Lancashire Hill, Stockport.

Religion

St. Elisabeth's is an Anglo-Catholic church, i.e. high church within the Church of England, reflecting Houldsworth's own beliefs. There are several services each week, the main Sung Mass being at 10:30 on Sunday.

The first incumbent was Rev Addison Crofton, succeeded by Rev Edmund Oldfield in 1893.

Music

The organ was originally built by William Hill & Son of London. It was ordered in 1882 (as Job No. 1854) but was not completed until 1885. It had three manuals and pedals, with tubular pneumatic action linking the detached console on the south side of the choir stalls to the organ on the north side of the chancel, in an elevated position in the Triforium. It was rebuilt by Wadsworth Brothers of Manchester in 1929. During the late 1960s it was disastrously rebuilt by a small, local firm Charles H Smethurst Ltd, to a much reduced specification. The original specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register: but note a more recent rebuild and enlargement (2017) by F H Browne, Canterbury, making use of some of the stored pipework from the earlier 'disastrous' rebuild mentioned above. The organ is restored to 30 speaking stops and some significantly good ranks have been re-introduced.

Rectory

A rectory, also designed by Alfred Waterhouse, was built for the church in 1874. It, and the walls the south and west of the church, are all grade II* listed buildings.

In popular culture

St Elisabeth's was used as a set for the wedding of Ashley Peacock and Maxine Heavey in the TV soap opera Coronation Street. The church also featured as the setting for the BBC children's drama Clay broadcast on CBBC. Extensive modifications to the vestry and interior of the church were required to change it into a Catholic church in 1960s Tyneside. It was based on the novel Clay by David Almond and starred Imelda Staunton.

See also

• Grade I listed churches in Greater Manchester
• Listed buildings in Stockport
• List of churches in Greater Manchester
• List of ecclesiastical works by Alfred Waterhouse

References

1. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1969). The Buildings of England: South Lancashire. London: Penguin Books. pp. 371–372. ISBN 0-14-071036-1.
2. ^ "St Elisabeth's, Reddish". Lancashire Faces & Places. 1 (4): 60–61. April 1901.
3. ^ Cronin, Jill (2000). Images of England: Reddish. Stroud, Glos: Tempus Publishing. pp. 54–56. ISBN 0-7524-1878-5.
4. ^ "History". St Elisabeth's. Archived from the original on 29 December 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2006.
5. "What's it like?". St Elisabeth's. Retrieved 9 October 2006.
6. Howe, A. C. (2004). "Houldsworth, Sir William Henry". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 9 October 2006.
7. "Manchester, Greater, Reddish, St. Elisabeth, Leamington Road [N02139]". National Pipe Organ Register. British Institute of Organ Studies. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
8. Historic England. "Rectory to Church of St Elisabeth (1067181)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
9. Historic England. "Wall to west of Church of St Elisabeth (1356853)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
10. Historic England. "Wall to west and south of Church of St Elisabeth (1067172)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
11. "Street dreams". Yorkshire Post. 7 October 1997.
12. IMDB entry for Clay.

External links

• St Elisabeth's

53°26′17″N 2°09′48″W / 53.437972°N 2.163303°W / 53.437972; -2.163303

v t e Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, England
Buildings	Abney Hall Barnes Hospital, Cheadle Bramall Hall Broadstone Mill, Reddish Cheadle Hulme School Elder Mill, Romiley Hat Works Houldsworth Mill, Reddish Houldsworth Working Men's Club Kingston Mill Mauldeth Hall Meadow Mill Mellor Hall Millennium House Moseley Old Hall, Cheadle New Hall, Woodford Old Manor Farm, Marple Nelstrops Albion Flour Mills Pear New Mill Plaza Cinema Staircase House Stockport Armoury Stockport Central Library Stockport College Stockport Town Hall Strawberry Studios Underbank Hall Vernon Mill Wear Mill Welkin Mill, Lower Bredbury Woodbank
Places of worship	All Saints Church, Marple Christ Church, Heaton Norris St Elisabeth's Church, Reddish St George's Church, Heaviley St Joseph's Church, Stockport St Martin's Church, Marple St Mary's Church, Cheadle St Mary's Church, Stockport Our Lady and the Apostles Church, Stockport St Peter's Church, Stockport St. Thomas' Church, Mellor St Thomas' Church, Stockport
Education	Aquinas College Bramhall High School Castle Hill High School, Offerton Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College Cheadle Hulme High School Harrytown Catholic High School Hazel Grove High School The Kingsway School Marple Hall School Priestnall School Reddish Vale High School St Anne's RC Voluntary Academy St James' Catholic High School Seashell Trust Stella Maris School Stockport Academy Stockport College Stockport Grammar School Stockport School Werneth School
Transportation	Bramhall railway station Bredbury railway station Brinnington railway station Cheadle Hulme railway station Davenport railway station Gatley railway station Hazel Grove railway station Heald Green railway station Heaton Chapel railway station Marple railway station Middlewood railway station Reddish North railway station Reddish South railway station Romiley railway station Rose Hill Marple railway station Stockport bus station Stockport Interchange Stockport railway station Strines railway station Woodley railway station Woodsmoor railway station
Shopping complexes	Grand Central Stockport Merseyway Shopping Centre The Peel Centre
Sport and entertainment	Avro Heritage Museum Edgeley Park Garrick Theatre Plaza Cinema, Stockport Stockport Air Raid Shelters
Bridges	Marple Aqueduct Stockport Viaduct
Others	Stepping Hill Hospital Stockport Sunday School
Demolished	Cheadle Heath railway station Cheadle Lower Mill Cheadle LNW railway station Cheadle North railway station Green Lane Hazel Grove (Midland) railway station Heaton Mersey railway station Heaton Norris railway station Mellor Mill Palmer Mills, Stockport Portwood railway station Stockport Castle Stockport Tiviot Dale railway station Wood Mill, Woodley
Lists	List of schools in Stockport List of mills in Stockport
Listed buildings in	Bredbury and Romiley Cheadle and Gatley Hazel Grove and Bramhall Marple Stockport

• Churches completed in 1883
• 19th-century Church of England church buildings
• Grade I listed churches in Greater Manchester
• Church of England church buildings in Greater Manchester
• Churches in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport
• Alfred Waterhouse buildings
• Anglican Diocese of Manchester
• Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Greater Manchester