St Wilfrid's Church, Halton-on-Lune

St Wilfrid’s Church stands in the quiet village of Halton-on-Lune in Lancashire. The present building mixes an older tower from the 16th century with a nave and chancel rebuilt in 1876–77 by the Lancaster firm Paley and Austin. The churchyard holds a small Anglo-Saxon high cross and a 17th-century sundial. The church is built of yellow sandstone rubble with red tile roofs and has a three-stage tower fifty-five feet tall. Inside, the tower contains three bells and fragments of Anglo-Saxon sculpture. The church is worth visiting for its layers of history and fine details. A Christian site may have existed here before the Norman Conquest, and a church dedicated to St Wilfrid was recorded by 1252. The tower and gate piers date from the 16th and late 18th centuries, while the nave and chancel were designed by Paley and Austin. Architectural historians Pevsner and Hartwell recognise the church as a clear example of their work. The high cross and sundial carry carvings and inscriptions from the 11th and 17th centuries. Visitors find a simple nave with four bays, a chancel with an organ chamber and vestry, and a two-storey porch with timber-framed upper walls. The interior holds stained glass by Shrigley and Hunt showing Joan of Arc and Saint George. Outside, the churchyard spreads to the south and east, with sandstone gates, a 1907 lychgate, and a two-tier Bradshaw family vault. The Anglo-Saxon cross south of the porch shows carvings of Sigurd, and the sundial nearby bears the date 1635.