Wallasey Unitarian Church
The church was designed by Edmund Ware and Edmund Rathbone and opened in 1899.
Behind its plain exterior is a remarkable interior, rich in English Arts and Crafts furnishings, which are very rare in a Nonconformist chapel. There are fittings by many Art Nouveau craftsmen associated with the Bromsgrove Guild, including a fine reredos of Birkenhead ‘Della Robbia’ware that was designed by Harold Rathbone.
… decorated in a style new, so far as we are aware, to this country.
~ The Inquirer, 1899
Directions
Grid Reference: SJ309922
The nearest Mersey Rail stations are Wallasey Village or Wallasey Grove Road, from where buses connect to Liscard town centre, 3 minutes walk to the church in Manor Road. Car parking in adjacent streets.
Visiting
The building is used by Wallasey School of Ballet, so visits for groups are welcome by prior arrangement only. The exterior is visible from the street.
Disabled access is available by lift. WC.
In the area
Explore Wallasey at the History of Wallasey which will guide you to interesting buildings and history of the area.
Liverpool is just 30 minutes or so away by public transport (MerseyRail services Wallasey Village to Liverpool Lime Street).
Address
Manor Road
Liscard Village
Wallasey
CH44 1DA
United Kingdom
Open for visits by prior arrangement.
The church today known as Wallasey Unitarian Church is more fully Liscard Memorial Unitarian Church, Wallasey. It was designed by Edmund Ware and Edmund Rathbone and opened in 1899; it is Grade II* listed on account of its Free Style and Arts and Crafts fittings. The reredos, a triptych of Birkenhead ‘Della Robbia’ ware, was designed by Harold Rathbone. It is signed and dated 1899.
The exterior architecture of the church and integral hall is deliberately secular and un-ecclesiastical and though handsome does not prepare one for the fittings inside.
Walter Gilbert, a founder of the Bromsgrove Guild, designed the decorative ironwork and the porch detailing was sculpted by Benjamin Creswick. The intention behind the decoration was to portray religious themes in a fresh artistic language.
HCT has completed a major repair of the church and hall and upgraded its facilities for modern usage. The hall is used by Wallasey Ballet School.
Repairs to the roof were completed in 2016, funded by a number of generous trusts and foundations. We are now raising funds for essential repairs to the interior.
If you would like to help us to restore and maintain this wonderful Grade II* building you could become a volunteer or make a donation.
The church is available for lectures, exhibitions, AGMs and meetings subject to Ballet School uses. To enquire about hiring the Church please contact HCT using the contact us page.
