St Thomas' Church

St Thomas’ Church stands on Lancaster Road in Preston, Lancashire. It is a Grade II listed building designed by John Latham and completed in 1839. The church was built in sandstone with slate roofs in Romanesque Revival style. Its nave has six bays with a clerestory and north and south aisles. A three-stage tower with a broach spire rises above the chancel, which ends in a five-sided apse flanked by vestries. The church is worth visiting for its unusual architecture and community role. It once seated 1,100 people and housed a curtained pew for Edward Hermon, the local MP. After being declared redundant in 1983, it became a Pentecostal church in 2014 and is now City Church Preston. The church runs two services, one in English and one in Tamil, reflecting its congregation from Southern Asia. Funds raised here support ministries in Central Africa, Eastern Europe, the USA and the Philippines. Inside, the church has cylindrical piers carrying arcades and an upper floor inserted later. A 1907 window above the old altar shows Jesus Christ. The wheel window in the west gable is being restored with money raised by the congregation. A perimeter fence, designed with help from Scott Hartley, an architectural student, now protects the building from antisocial behaviour. The church’s odd mix of Norman features and later additions makes it an intriguing place to see.