Grade I listed churches in Lancashire

A stone church seen from the southeast with an embattled tower, clerestory, and a lower chancel.
Church of St Mary and All Saints, Whalley

Lancashire is a county in North West England. In 1974 parts of the historic county were divided between Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and Cumbria, and part of the West Riding of Yorkshire was transferred into the county, creating the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire. Together with the unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool it now forms the ceremonial county of Lancashire.[1][2][3]

Buildings in England are given listed building status by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, acting on the recommendation of English Heritage.[4] Listed status gives the structure national recognition and protection against alteration or demolition without authorisation. Grade I listed buildings are defined as being of "exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important"; only 2.5 per cent of listed buildings are included in this grade.[5] This is a complete list of Grade I listed churches and chapels in the ceremonial county of Lancashire as recorded in the National Heritage List for England.

Christian churches have existed in Lancashire since Anglo-Saxon times. Architectural features from that era have survived in St Peter's Church,[6] and in St Patrick's Chapel, both in Heysham;[7] churches such as St Margaret, Hornby, contain Anglo-Saxon fragments in the form of parts of crosses or carved stones.[8] Norman features are found in some of the churches, including St John the Evangelist, Gressingham,[9] and St Saviour, Stydd,[10] but almost all those in the list are Gothic in style. Many were restored during the 19th century and have additions or alterations in Gothic Revival style, including St Bartholomew, Colne,[11] and St Cuthbert, Halsall.[12] All but two of the churches are Anglican by denomination. The two Roman Catholic churches in the list date from the 19th century and are in the Gothic Revival style: Pleasington Priory,[13] and St Walburge, Preston.[14] Most of the county is rural, but remnants of a greater industrial past remain in the larger towns of Preston and Blackburn, and in the former textile towns of east Lancashire.[15] Lancashire's bedrock is mainly sandstone, with limestone deposits in the north and in the area around Clitheroe, which provided the major building materials for the churches.[16]

  1. ^ Local Government Act 1972, National Archives, archived from the original on 11 October 2012, retrieved 13 December 2012
  2. ^ The Lancashire (Boroughs of Blackburn and Blackpool) (Structural Change) Order 1996, National Archives, archived from the original on 23 September 2012, retrieved 13 December 2012
  3. ^ The Local Government (Changes for the Registration Service in Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Devon, Essex, Hereford and Worcester, Kent, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Shropshire) Order 1997, National Archives, archived from the original on 24 July 2023, retrieved 13 December 2012
  4. ^ Consultation Process, English Heritage, archived from the original on 6 July 2012, retrieved 12 May 2012
  5. ^ Listed Buildings, Historic England, archived from the original on 2 April 2015, retrieved 25 May 2015
  6. ^ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 332–334
  7. ^ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 334–335
  8. ^ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 344–345
  9. ^ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 313–314
  10. ^ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 660–661
  11. ^ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 251–253
  12. ^ Pollard & Pevsner 2006, pp. 192–194
  13. ^ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 503–504
  14. ^ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 532–533
  15. ^ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 1–2
  16. ^ Broadhurst, Fred, in Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, pp. 2–6