St George's Church, Southport

St George’s Church stands on Lord Street in Southport, a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton. Built in 1873–74 as a Presbyterian church, it was designed by Thomas Wylie in a style resembling the 14th century. The building is made of sandstone rubble with a slate roof and features a tall broach spire rising from a three-stage tower. The west doorway has an ornate porch with colonnettes and a steep gable, while the nave has five bays separated by buttresses. Each bay contains large three-light windows with plate tracery, allowing light to flood the interior.

The church is worth visiting for its fine Gothic Revival architecture and its Grade II listing on the National Heritage List. The tower includes a triple niche with trefoils and pairs of louvred bell openings, topped by an arcaded frieze and pierced parapet. Inside, the single nave has wooden arcaded screens at both ends, one Gothic in style and integrated with a dais. Two sets of stained glass windows were created by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, and by Shrigley and Hunt, adding colour and detail to the space.

Visitors find a quiet, well-preserved church interior with simple furnishings and rich decorative touches. The west screen is glazed and wooden, while the east screen frames a reading desk and dais. Morning coffee is served to the public, and the church hosts services and group activities. The exterior’s buttresses, pinnacles and lucarnes on the spire give the building a striking silhouette against the Southport skyline.