Emmanuel Church, Preston

Emmanuel Church stands on Brook Street in Preston, Lancashire. It is a Grade II listed building designed in the 19th century by Myres, Veevers and Myres. The church was completed in 1870 and could seat one thousand people when new. Thomas Tomlinson donated the land, and Sir T. G. Fermor-Hesketh laid the foundation stone in 1868. The building cost about six thousand pounds to construct. After dry rot was discovered in 2014, the congregation moved to the nearby community centre. The church mixes Early English and Decorated styles in red brick with sandstone dressings. Its five-bay nave has no aisles, and north and south transepts extend from the main body. A tower rises at the southwest corner, with buttresses, lancets, and a carved band at the top. The west front features a porch with stone carving and a modern glazed extension. Inside, a hammerbeam roof spans the nave, and galleries occupy the transepts. The chancel holds a five-light east window with Geometrical tracery. The three-manual pipe organ dates from 1874 and was restored in 1912. Small lancet windows light the transepts, each gable containing a large four-light window. The church’s exterior includes polychrome bands, corner gargoyles, and octagonal pinnacles. Though the building closed in 2016, services continue in the Plungington Community Centre nearby.