St Mark's Church, Preston

St Mark’s Church stands in a quiet Preston street, its red-sandstone walls rising beside a row of terraced houses. Built in 1862–63 by Lancaster architect E. G. Paley, the church was designed in the Decorated style with a tall tower meant to match the nearby Catholic church of St Walburge. The tower rises in four unequal stages, its narrow stair turret and pierced parapet giving it a sturdy silhouette against the sky. Inside, the plan includes a four-bay nave, north and south transepts, and a chancel ending in a three-sided apse. Large five-light windows light the west end, while three-light windows line the nave walls between buttresses. The building once cost £6,594, a sum that would be worth far more today, and its tower was added between 1868 and 1870 to rival St Walburge’s spire. By the mid-20th century the congregation had dwindled, and the church was declared redundant in 1982. After standing empty for over a decade, it was converted into flats, with the altar and furnishings moved to St Michael and All Angels’ Church. The former school became a design studio used by Heckford Advertising Agency from 1990 onwards. Visitors today see the church’s sandstone exterior and slate roof unchanged from Paley’s design. The tower’s bell openings and pinnacles remain prominent, while new balconies and windows mark the residential conversion. Inside the converted spaces, original features such as the gabled porch and tall nave windows can still be recognised. The surrounding area is a mix of late-19th-century terraces and modern homes, keeping the church as a quiet landmark in a working-class district.