Christ Church, Birkenhead

Christ Church stands on a sloping site in Christchurch Road, Oxton, Birkenhead. It is an active Anglican parish church designed by William Jearrad and built between 1844 and 1849. The church cost £9,000 to construct and provided seating for 1,209 people when it opened in 1849. It was not consecrated until 1854, when the bishop of Chester conducted the ceremony. The church is built from local red sandstone and roofed in Welsh slate. The church is recognised on the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II listed building. Its exterior features a six-bay nave, north and south transepts, and a west tower with a spire. The tower has a west door topped by a quatrefoil and clock face, with paired bell openings and a broach spire with lucarnes. The nave bays are divided by buttresses rising to pinnacles, each containing a wide lancet window. Inside, the church has galleries at the west end and in the transepts. Many items of furniture, including the font, lectern, and pulpit, were given as memorials. The pulpit includes carvings of two soldiers kneeling at the foot of the cross. The stained glass in the east window dates from 1951, while windows on the south side depict scenes from *The Pilgrim’s Progress*. The original organ, built by Henry Willis, was moved to the south transept in 1881 and has been restored several times.