St Stephen's Church, Prenton

St Stephen’s Church stands on Prenton Lane in Prenton, a suburb of Birkenhead on the Wirral peninsula. It is an active Anglican parish church, part of the deanery of Birkenhead, archdeaconry of Chester, and diocese of Chester. The building is listed at Grade II on the National Heritage List for England, recognising its national importance. The church was built in two stages, the first in 1896–97 by C. E. Deacon, and the second in 1908–09 with the addition of the chancel and vestries. A planned tower and spire were never completed. The church is built of sandstone in Gothic Revival style, with brick internal walls and tiled roofs. Its plan includes a nave with north and south aisles, projecting chapels, a chancel, and vestries. The west window has five lights, and the east window consists of five stepped lancets. Groups of stepped lancet windows line the aisle walls, with doorways near the western ends. Buttresses with pyramidal roofs support the east end, adding to the church’s external character. Inside, the four-bay arcades rest on square piers with foliage-carved capitals and plain chamfered arches. The chancel arch is sharply pointed, with angel-carved capitals. The chancel contains a brick sedilia with terracotta putti, and the southeast chapel features a painted ceiling and fittings from 1970 by Dykes Bower. The reredos, altar, stalls, and pulpit were designed by Deacon and carved by Harry Hems. Stained glass includes war memorial windows by Powells from 1926 and 1927, and later works by Trena Cox and others. The 1899 pipe organ by P. Conacher was restored in 1909 before being replaced by a Makin electronic organ.