Four photographs of St Thomas's, Hillgate

I recently went past St Thomas's, Hillgate and took some new photographs. On the south side of the church the gravestones have been mostly flattened for ease of maintenance and the large tree has had its branches cut back. If you look carefully you can see a cat at the bottom of the tree.

St Thomas's Parish Church was opened in 1825 having been built as one of a hundred churches funded by grants from the government and regarded as a thanksgiving for victory over Napoleon, hence the name "Waterloo" Churches. St. Thomas was built in the classical style and is now recognised as a building of National importance being Grade I Listed.

A look down the side of the graveyard showing the pollarded tree.

The classic view from St Thomas's Place

Previous posts of St Thomas's, Hillgate:

• 24-08-14 Outside St Thomas's
• 28-08-14 Hazardous Headstones
• 31-08-14 Inside St Thomas's
• 07-09-14 Stained glass
• 21-09-14 War Memorial tablet

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Photo of the Year: Rostron Brow

Rostron Brow leads from Lower Hillgate up to St Mary's Parish Church.

I have chosen this as my Photo of the Year 2014 - see what other City Daily Photobloggers chose for their Photo of the Year by visiting JANUARY 2015 GALLERY - PHOTO OF THE YEAR.

War Memorial tablet in St Thomas's, Hillgate

Previous posts have shown
The outside of St Thomas's;
The inside of St Thomas's;
The stained glass at St Thomas's.

On one wall of the church is a memorial reading:
"This tablet is erected in grateful and loving memory of the above named
men of St Thomas's church and parish who laid down their lives in the Great War 1914-1919"
Beneath it is a Votive Candle stand where those who wish to may light a candle for someone who is ill or in need, or to mark an anniversary.

The nearby Memorial Book contains names of former parishioners and worshippers who are remembered in the prayers on their anniversary, every year.

The names listed in the four panels of the war memorial are:
Charles Adams
Fred Adams
Walter Barnet
Walter Birchenough
Stephen Blackshaw
William D Blackshaw
Frederick Brady
James Briggs
James Broadhurst
John T Brocklehurst
Henry Brown
Harry C Buckland
Edward Burgess
Ernest Clarke
Frank Corlett
James Cumston
Joseph Davenport
John Davies
William Donbavand
John Edward Dudley
Henry Edge
Vincent Fletcher
Joseph Barlow

***

Joseph Fox
Harold Garner
William Garner
Ernest Gibson
Frank Gorst
Edwin Gray
William Greenhalgh
George Kinsey Gresty
William Thomas Hague
Herbert Hamer
John Harrison
William Hayes
John Hester
John Holmes
Herbert Hooley
Sidney Hulme
Charles Jackson
Joshua Jackson
William Jackson
Arthur Jordan
Alfred Kaye

***

George Kinder
Edward Kirkpatrick
Samuel Knowles
Francis Knight
Neville Lewis
Joseph Littlewood
John Taylor Lomax
George Ludlow
Henry Marsden
George Mather
Joseph Mather
Thomas Blackshaw Mather
Alfred Moore
Henry Moore
John William Mott
George Mottram
Frederick Oldham
William Oldham
John Pearson
Davenport Pennington
George Potts
Percy Pratt
William McCarthy

***

Frederick Pyott
Henry Salt
John Joshua Savage
William Edward Shepherdson
Gerald Slack
Ernest Smith
Isaac Smith
George Southam
Frederick Swain
Alfred Thorley
John Thorley
Mark Thorley
Walter Thorley
Harold G Townley
Robert Travis
Robert Arthur Walley
Edmund Ward
Richard Waterfield
Frank Watts
Charles Wilkinson
Charles Williamson
George Wilson
Visit the Church website for more information on St Thomas's.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

J is for Just Eat

This Cafe on the corner of Hillgate and Mowbray Street is open weekdays from breakfast to after lunch - I haven't been in it but it looks like just the place for decent cup of tea, a bacon sarnie or a reasonably priced hot lunch.

Next door is a chinese chippie that probably opens around tea-time until late evening.

There is a sign between the two advertising a website called "Just Eat" where apparently you can order a meal online and have it delivered. Reports I've heard suggest that the quality of the service is questionable and often the meals are not cooked in the establishment from which you thought you had ordered. If I wanted my food delivered I think I'd phone the takeaway directly rather than going through a third party.

In any case you can just eat without going online.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Stained glass at St Thomas's

A fortnight ago I showed you the outside of St Thomas's and then last week the inside of St Thomas's.

This week I am showing some of the stained glass windows.

One of the four windows on the south wall no longer exists.

There are at least two more stained glass windows in the church but their placements make them very difficult to photograph.

Since 2012, St. Thomas has been placed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, and the group "Friends of St. Thomas" was set up in 2013 as a way of securing the future of the church for generations to come.

Visit the Church website for more information.

A contribution to
Inspired Sundays;
Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors;
Monday Murals.

H is for Hillgate Pharmacy, Holt Street

Hillgate Pharmacy is located at 50 Higher Hillgate on the corner of Holt Street. It has the look of an old Co-op building but in fact the Co-op pharmacy is two doors away at #54 with a sandwich shop between them.

According to the date plaque the building was erected in 1869.

The arms supporting the lamp beneath have horseshoes attached. Does a pharmacy need luck?

A contribution to ABC Wednesday and signs, signs.

Inside St Thomas's Parish Church

Following on from last week's post showing the outside of St Thomas's here are views of the inside of the church.

Above the High Altar is a painting of the "Transfiguration of Our Lord", a copy of part of a painting by Raphael which hangs in the Vatican. The East wall is decorated with acanthus leaf, a popular classical Greek design.

The three-manual organ was made in 1834 by Samuel Renn. Its choir division was added in 1890 by Alex Young, and the organ was cleaned and overhauled in 1961 by Jardine. More details can be found on the The National Pipe Organ Register.

The pews in the gallery are the original Georgian ones whilst the others are Victorian replacements.

Since 2012, St. Thomas has been placed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, and the group "Friends of St. Thomas" was set up in 2013 as a way of securing the future of the church for generations to come.

Visit the Church website for more information.

Next week I'll show you some of the stained glass windows.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

Hazardous Headstones

This is a close-up of the sign you may have noticed seeing in my recently posted photo of the east entrance to St Thomas's Church.

Health and safety rules these days in graveyards.

A contribution to signs, signs.

Outside St Thomas's, Hillgate

This view of the church is from the West.

St Thomas' Parish Church was opened in 1825 having been built as one of a hundred churches funded by grants from the government and regarded as a thanksgiving for victory over Napoleon, hence the name "Waterloo" Churches. St. Thomas was built in the classical style and is now recognised as a building of National importance being Grade 1 Listed.

It was built to front onto Hillgate which was then the main route from London to Manchester and Carlisle, hence the grand portico at the East end, before Wellington Road (A6) was opened soon after.

This view of the church is from the East.

It is in the process of restoration and over the last few years the dedicated congregation have raised funds to renew the roof, restore the tower and cupola and clock faces and include more facilities inside the church, including toilets and a kitchen, to enable it to be used as a venue for concerts and recitals.

Since 2012, St. Thomas has been placed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, and the group "Friends of St. Thomas" was set up in 2013 as a way of securing the future of the church for generations to come.

Visit the Church website for more information.

When I visited the church recently I took several photographs inside the church some of which I will post at a later date.

A contribution to Inspired Sundays.

A new view opened up

Following the collapse of the top two storeys of the MFW furniture store - see our post of 3rd January 2014 - a new view has opened up of the rear of the building at the top of Rostron Brow and a glimpse of a corner of the tower of St Mary's Church.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Stockport's answer to Banksy?

Well, hardly. I spotted this stencilled figure and the "pink panther" tag today on a wall at Coopers Brow between High Street and Lower Hillgate.

A contribution to Monday Murals.

London Square

London Square was originally the site of the Stockport Sunday School - see our post of 13th April for more information.

On one side now are modern flats and a children's adventure play area. On the other side (out of sight on the right) is a car park.

The square manhole cover in the middle of the road is a ductile Stanton PLC Chieftain 600 grade A.

A contribution to the City Daily Photo theme Squares.

Signs on Lower Hillgate

Lower Hillgate supports a plethora of mostly dilapidated signs.

It is still closed to through traffic following the collapse of a derelict furniture shop in November 2013.

See details of the collapsed building in our post from 3rd January.

See a wider view of this part of Lower Hillgate on Geograph.

A contribution to signs, signs.

Climbing Rostron Brow

Rostron Brow leads from Lower Hillgate up to St Mary's Parish Church.

A contribution to Our World Tuesday.

Collapsed building on Lower Hillgate

The remains of the former M.F.W. furniture shop on Lower Hillgate at the junction with Mealhouse Brow and Little Underbank. The three-storey building had been derelict for eight years before suddenly and unexpectedly collapsing on 21st November 2013.

The photo below is taken from Streetview and shows how it looked in 2012.

A contribution to Friday Fences.

U is for Unicorn Brewery

The brewery is named after the Unicorn Inn which was bought by William Robinson in 1838. This stood on what is now the bottom yard in Lower Hillgate. William was joined in 1865 by his younger son Frederic, who started to brew beer for other local hostelries and his first customer was Mrs. Lamb (Bridge Inn, Chestergate). In 1876, shortly after his father's death, he bought his first house the Royal Scot, Marple Bridge (then the Railway Inn). Bottling commenced from a new building in 1908; new offices opened in 1913 and a new brew house in 1929. In 1975 bottling was carried out at Bredbury and now, after fermentation is complete, all the beers are transferred to Bredbury for packaging and distribution from there. It remains a family business.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

M is for Mottram Towers

One of a group of tower blocks in the Millbrook area of Stockport. In the foreground is a decorated open space with benches.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Sign of the Golden Lion

The former Golden Lion public house on the corner of Middle Hillgate and Higher Barlow Row has been converted by architects Cartwright and Gross into their own offices.

A contribution to signs, signs.

The Red Bull

The Red Bull, a Robinson's pub on Middle Hillgate is a locally listed building.

The public house was probably constructed in the late 18th century, with alterations and rear additions in the late 19th century, internal remodelling in the 20th century. The building is 2-storey over cellars and with an attic, and is L-plan with a projecting wing to the right. It is constructed of rendered red brick with stone details, and the roof is Welsh slate with gable-end brick stacks.

The central entrance has stone steps with wrought-iron railings. The flush beaded panelled door is within a moulded architrave with a debased scrolled pediment. Either side, and to the first floor are 4-pane sashes. The elevation is articulated with string courses at upper ground floor level and there are chamfered quoins. The wing to the right has similar windows and a dentilled timber eaves cornice.

The right return gable has plate glass sashes and a 3-light plain mullioned window to the attic. Extensions were added to the rear in the late 19th century.

A contribution to signs, signs.

A closer look at the Enterprise Mural

The Enterprise Mural on the gable wall of 89 Lower Hillgate offers a pictorial reflection of Stockport's industrial history. It was designed and painted by artist Keith Ormondroyd in 1983.

I first showed it to you in my post on 26th August.

I've been back since then and taken some closer views from the side. For a 30-year old mural it isn't doing all that badly.

Another contribution to Monday Murals.