St Cuthbert's Church, Lytham

St Cuthbert’s Church stands in the centre of Lytham, Lancashire, on the same site where churches have stood since the 18th century. The present building was finished in 1835 to designs by W. H. Hobden and enlarged several times, most notably by Paley and Austin in the 1870s and 1880s. Since 1971 it has held Grade II* listed status, the second highest category for historic buildings. The church belongs to the Diocese of Blackburn and remains an active parish church. Its Perpendicular exterior is built of dark red brick with sandstone dressings and slate roofs. The church contains a ring of eight bells in a wooden frame and monuments to the local Clifton family. Its stained glass includes windows by Hardman & Co., Morris & Co., Charles Eamer Kempe, Jean-Baptiste Capronnier and Clayton and Bell. The Grade II sundial in the churchyard carries the inscription ‘Dum spectes fugio’ and the war graves of fourteen service personnel. A tall red sandstone monument north of the church commemorates the crew of the Laura Janet lifeboat who died in 1886. Inside, the nave has aisles to north and south, a west tower with crenellated parapet, and a chancel with Arts and Crafts east window. The vicarage to the west, possibly designed by Hobden, is a Grade II listed building in Elizabethan style. The churchyard paths lead past the sundial and war graves to the lifeboat monument, giving views of the church’s crenellated walls and slate roofs.