Church Heritage Record 624258

5-bay aisled nave, west baptistery flanked by porches. 2-bay chancel flanked by south vestry and north organ chamber (reverse of the original intention). 

(approximately) Very wide nave c 21m (70 ft) x 10m (34ft). Chancel 9m square.

Chadderton developed in the 18th century from a farming community, mentioned in the early 13th century, to a suburb of Oldham. It is now within Oldham for administrative purposes. 

The predecessor of the church was a licensed mission chapel which grew out of the local Sunday School.  Early benefactors included the Hobson Smethhurst family, and several memorials to them can be found in the church. The building of the church was begun in 1882, the original design by Joseph Stott & Sons, a local practice which specialised in designing mill buildings. The planned north-west tower, linked chapter house and vaulted ceiling (hence the flying buttresses) were never built due to lack of funds, the church was built by public subscription and work proceeded slowly. James Edward Platt, a local mill owner, paid for the chancel in memory of his deceased wife and daughter. This was designed by Paley & Austin and finished in 1888. St Luke’s became a parish church in 1889.

There was a serious fire in 1954 which damaged the interior and the roof sparing only the chancel, and most of the nave furnishings and fittings are of this date or later. A vestry was erected on the south side of the chancel. 

This is a large church, designed in the Decorated Geometrical style. The overall effect is rather disjointed reflecting the financial difficulties already mentioned, but clearly the intention was ambitious. The church is tall with a broad clearstorey and low aisles, a little more vertical emphasis is provided by a spirelet at the north-west corner of the nave in place of the planned tower. The building has presence rather than impact.

The west elevation has a tall 4-light pointed window with simple Decorated tracery, not Perpendicular panel tracery as stated in the Listing description. The low west baptistery underneath is flanked by small porches, all with their own miniature gabled roofs; the baptistery has a pointed 3-light in the west wall. Access is via north and south pointed doorways with three orders of colonettes, plain capitals and mouldings. 

The nave and chancel are under a continuous roof, with a stump of brickwork at the junction; there are cross finials to the coped end gables.  The interface is further marked by flying buttresses adorned with spirelets and gablets, with another pair two bays from the west end of the nave. Corbelled eaves with pilasters to the clearstorey, angled corner buttresses elaborated with blind arcading and gablets which rise above the eaves. This enlivens what would otherwise be a very dour exterior and reflects the original ambition.

The aisles have 2-light pointed windows with tracery and cinquefoils in the head (three on the south, four on north side), similar to the west ends. The principal windows are at clearstorey level, these are pointed 3-lights with Geometrical tracery with alternating patterns of cinquefoils in the heads.

A low white brick lean-to addition with domestic windows on the south side of the chancel takes the place of the organ chamber which was never built, the taller arch for the latter is bricked up. To the west of this arch is a tall and narrow 2-light window to the clearstorey, with two such windows opposite above a lean-to vestry with two windows as to the aisles. The east window has three equal pointed 2-lights with quatrefoils in the heads within an arched recess.

Moving inside, the interior space is of an impressive scale and theatrical quality.  The nave is very wide, brick-faced with moulded terracotta arcade arches carried on quatrefoil stone columns, stone banding above the arches relieves the redness. Under the west window is a pointed moulded arch which perfectly frames the huge font and cover against the baptistery window when viewed from the central axis of the church. This is clearly a deliberate artifice and there is an unbroken sight-line from east to west with fine stained glass by Capronnier at each end, the pride of this church.

There are good king-post roof trusses, partly concealed by a ceiling inserted after the fire. The corbels are taken down as moulded colonettes to the springing of the arcades. A Lady Chapel has been introduced at the east end of the south aisle. The pipes to the organ are displayed in the east arch of the north aisle and the west bay of the chancel.

More prosaically, toilets have been installed in the north draught lobby, it and its south counterpart have glazed screens. Adjacent to this is a door to the spiral stair to the bell turret, stairs also lead down to a small cellar. The seating is open-backed wooden chairs, presumably of the late 1950s, divided into east and west sections by what appears to have been the rear panels of pews forming a low screen. Wooden floors with red carpet down the central alley, stone flags under and in the aisles. The baptistery has a floor of chequerboard tiles. There are more carpets in the western part which is used as a flexible meeting space.

The stone chancel arch is tall, pointed and moulded, plain moulded capitals and colonnettes. Its springing point is higher than the moulded terracotta string-course defining the clearstorey, marking a clear visual division which is accentuated by the use of materials. The chancel is ashlar-faced and has blind arcading of pointed lancets around the sanctuary, with a row of quatrefoils between the east window and oak reredos.  The hand of Paley & Austin is immediately recognisable here.

There is a large arch under the south window filled with a glazed screen, within which is a door leading to the south vestry block, which is divided into a choir and clergy vestry by another screen. In the east bay of the chancel south wall is the tall blocked arch to the planned organ chamber, the corbelled stone balcony for the organ is still there, with a stone front pierced with quatrefoils and moulded rail. The original round arch-headed doorway under this now leads to the vicar’s vestry.

East of this there is a stepped 2-bay sedilia with heads as to the organ chamber door, and squares of glazed tiles to the floor. There are quite plain oak choir stalls with curved sides and high backs, communion rails, altar and reredos. The floor is of strips of tiles and stone flags, the carpet continues from the nave up three steps and one more to the sanctuary. A carved stone panel in the north wall commemorates the wife and daughter of James Edward Platt; this is very ornate with blind tracery around the frame. Adjacent to it is a trefoil-headed piscina.