St. Chad's Church

St Chad’s Church stands on Hunter Street in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. It is an Anglican church designed in the Decorated style and built of red Hollington stone. The architect was George Frederick Bodley, who died in 1907 before the building was finished. His partner Cecil Greenwood Hare completed the work, and the church was consecrated in 1910. Nikolaus Pevsner called it the finest building in Burton upon Trent. The church is a Grade I listed building and was a gift to the town by Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton, costing £38,000. The church includes a polygonal vestry and a detached north-west tower linked by a vaulted passage. Nikolaus Pevsner described it as Bodley’s best later work. Inside, a fine Bodley reredos stands in the north chapel. The organ, built by Peter Conacher and Co, has 32 stops across three manuals and pure tin pipes. The tower was meant to hold eight bells but initially had only one, installed by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough. A peal of eight bells was completed in 2000 after the church acquired six more from a redundant church. One bell was donated by Burton Albion F.C. The bells were refurbished and tuned to form a 13 cwt ring in the key of G. The church’s surroundings include the nearby parish of Horninglow and Eton, adding to its local significance.