St George's Church, Heaviley

St George’s Church stands in Heaviley, an area of Stockport, Greater Manchester. It is an active Anglican parish church designed in the Perpendicular style with traces of Art Nouveau. The building is made from Runcorn red sandstone and measures 180 feet long and 75 feet wide. The tower reaches 112 feet and the spire brings the total height to 236 feet. The church was designed by Hubert Austin of Paley, Austin and Paley and paid for by local brewer George Fearn. The church is recognised as Grade I listed and described as the finest church built in England since the Reformation. Its interior features Derbyshire alabaster reredos and font carved by Robert Bridgeman of Lichfield. The pulpit holds six carved figures of saints and the lectern is a brass eagle on a pedestal supported by lions. The east window depicts Saint George and the Dragon, and the three-manual organ was built in 1897 by Forster and Andrews. Outside, the churchyard contains a Grade II listed war memorial with panels naming 137 men and a statue of Saint George. The memorial dates from about 1920 and includes a tall cross under a gabled canopy. The former vicarage, built in Arts and Crafts style around 1920, is also Grade II listed but has been described as ruinous. The churchyard wall and gate piers share the same Grade II listing.