St Paul's Church, Boughton

St Paul’s Church stands beside the River Dee in Boughton, a district of Chester. It is a Grade II* listed building, recognised by Nikolaus Pevsner as the boldest of John Douglas’s church designs. The first church on the site opened in 1830, designed by William Cole the younger in Italianate style. In 1876 the building was virtually rebuilt by Douglas, who added the south aisle in 1902 and the spire in 1905. By 2016 the Diocese closed the church after surveys found it in very poor repair. The Victorian Society listed it among the Top Ten Heritage Buildings at Risk for that year. Its exterior mixes red brick, stone dressings and timber framing under grey slates. The plan includes a nave and chancel of four bays plus an apsidal bay, a south aisle, west porch and broach spire. Most windows are lancets, admitting clear light to the interior. Pevsner praised the strength of the timber-work inside the building. The walls carry stencilled patterns in Arts and Crafts style, and a wrought-iron screen by Douglas divides the space. Inside, stained glass spans several decades and makers. Kempe made the 1887 glass in the north aisle, while Frampton designed the baptistry windows. Morris & Co supplied the rest, with designs by Burne-Jones and Morris himself. Later windows from 1925 to 1927 are by Henry Dearle. A 1920 war-memorial reredos by H. G. Hiller and an 1845 monument from the earlier church also remain. The three-manual organ was built by James J. Binns of Leeds.