St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge

St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church stands in Darcy Lever, an area of Bolton. It is an active Anglican parish church on Radcliffe Road, built between 1842 and 1844 to a design by the Lancaster architect Edmund Sharpe. The entire building, apart from the foundations, walls, and slate roof, was constructed in terracotta produced by the local Ladyshore Coal and TerraCotta Company. The church was opened in February 1844 and consecrated in June 1845 by John Bird Sumner, the Bishop of Chester. Land for the church was donated by the 2nd Earl of Bradford, and it provided seating for 471 people. The church is one of three "pot churches" designed by Sharpe, notable for their extensive use of terracotta. Originally, it featured an openwork spire with crocketed pinnacles and traceried windows, but the spire was dismantled in 1937 due to safety concerns. The lower part of the tower was later removed in 1966 by the local steeplejack Fred Dibnah. After extensive dry rot was discovered in 1989, a programme of repairs was undertaken to restore the building. Inside, the church is richly decorated with terracotta friezes, ball-flowers, foliage, inscriptions, and blind arcades. The timber hammerbeam roof is carried on terracotta corbels, and the pew ends, organ case, and original altar are also made of terracotta. The stained glass includes works by Thomas Willement, William Wailes, and Henry Holiday. The churchyard contains war graves of nine service personnel from both World Wars, grouped around a commemorative war memorial.