Crosby United Reformed Church

Crosby United Reformed Church stands on the corner of Eshe Road and Mersey Road in Great Crosby, a suburb of Liverpool. It is a Grade II listed building, recognised in the National Heritage List for England. The church belongs to an active congregation of the United Reformed Church. Architecture critics from the Buildings of England series describe its design as ‘very satisfying’. The building was originally called Great Crosby Congregational Church before becoming part of the United Reformed Church in 1972. The church was founded in 1885 and first met in a schoolroom. Its present structure began with the laying of the foundation stone on 22 May 1897. The first service in the new building took place on 15 September 1898. The design was created by architects Douglas and Fordham. The church was extended to include the original schoolroom, which now serves as a large gabled hall. The exterior is built in snecked red sandstone with green slate roofs in Gothic style. Inside, the roof is a hammerbeam design. The reredos features a First World War memorial from 1920, with gesso work by Joseph Lawton. The east window’s glass was made by Shrigley and Hunt, while two windows in the north aisle contain stained glass by Edward Frampton. The church includes a nave, aisles, transepts, a chancel, and a southwest choir vestry with an organ-house above it.