Church of St Clare, Liverpool

The Church of St Clare stands at the corner of Arundel Avenue and York Avenue in the Sefton Park area of Liverpool. It is a Roman Catholic parish church built in Gothic style with buff-coloured brick and Storeton stone bands. The roof is slate, and the plan includes a single vessel with small chapels at the east end and two porches at the west. A statue of St Clare sits above the north doorway, while St Francis appears above the south porch. The Sacred Heart Chapel has its own saddleback roof and four round-headed windows. The church is recognised as one of the most imaginative of its date in the country. It was designed by Leonard Stokes, whose godfather Francis Reynolds paid for its construction. The foundation stone was laid in March 1889, and the church opened for worship in July 1890. The high altar features a triptych by Robert Anning Bell and George Frampton, while the stone pulpit was designed by Stokes himself. The Stations of the Cross, oil paintings installed in 1892, line the walls. Inside, the church has internal buttresses linked by arches that support balconies. The wagon roof spans ten bays, and the marble altar rails stretch across the nave. Statues by Mayer and Company of Munich stand in the chapels, and stained glass windows from 1906 to 1912 fill the space with colour. The organ, built in 1892, sits above the Lady Chapel, and the adjoining presbytery, also designed by Stokes, features curved hoodmoulds that hint at Art Nouveau influences.