St Margaret's Church

St Margaret’s Church stands in the quiet village of Hornby-with-Farleton, Lancashire, beside the main street. Built mainly of sandstone ashlar, the church has a west tower, a nave and chancel under one roof, and north and south aisles. The tower rises in three stages, its upper parts set diagonally, with a battlemented parapet and pinnacles. A clock and the Mounteagle arms are set into the middle stage. The east end finishes in a semi-octagonal apse. The church is worth visiting for its long history and fine craftsmanship. A church has stood on the site since 1338, and the tower was added in 1514 by Sir Edward Stanley, Lord Mounteagle. In 1817 the nave was rebuilt and in 1888–89 Lancaster architects Paley, Austin and Paley carried out a major restoration. A 1908 stained glass window shows St Cecilia with lady’s slipper orchids at her feet, commemorating survivors of William Henry Foster. Inside, the church holds a monument to Dr Lingard, a Roman Catholic priest who died in 1851. Two fragments of Anglo-Saxon crosses are also preserved here. The organ, built by Abbott and Smith, came from Hornby Castle in 1899 and was later renovated twice. Eight bells hang in the tower, six cast in 1761 by Abel Rudhall and two in 1922 by Mears and Stainbank. The churchyard contains an Anglo-Saxon cross base and the war grave of a Manchester Regiment officer from the Second World War.