St George's Church, Millom

St George’s Church stands in the town of Millom, Cumbria, on a site given by the Earl of Lonsdale. Built between 1874 and 1877, it was designed by the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin to serve a growing ironworks community. The church cost about £12,000, most of which came from the Millom Ironworks. It is a Grade II listed building and a prominent landmark in the town. The benefice is united with four nearby parishes, showing its central role in local worship. The church’s red sandstone exterior has an asymmetrical plan with a four-bay nave, north aisle, central tower, and chancel. The tower rises to an octagonal spire with lucarnes and is topped by an embattled parapet with pinnacles. All windows use Geometrical tracery, and the chancel has a traceried parapet and cross. Inside, fittings were designed by Paley and Austin, while stained glass includes works by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, Seward and Company, and a 2000 memorial to the poet Norman Nicholson. Outside, a Grade II listed Boer War memorial stands in a square enclosure. It features a Celtic cross carved with a vine and a dragon eating its tail. The church’s interior holds an organ moved from Morley in 1972 and a ring of six bells, the oldest from 1876. The Norman Nicholson window shows a bee orchid, a bloody cranesbill, Halley’s Comet, and lines from his poetry.