talk report - august 2007
22 August: Members' Guided Tour of St Elizabeth's Church, Scarisbrick
There was such a big party for this visit that members were taken in two groups.
First, before it got dark, we were shown the Graveyard and the unusual grave stone of the early priests. Then the grave of Charles Scarisbrick who was instrumental in founding the church. The parish dates back to 1732 but the church dates back to 1812 when Thomas Scarisbrick converted a tithe barn into St Mary's Church. The church was enlarged by Charles Scarisbrick in 1846. Charles died in 1860 leaving no legitimate heir but instructed his eldest son to sell all his antiques and treasures. Before he died he transferred ownership of the land on which the church and the adjacent school stands to Trustees. When Charles died his eldest sister, Anne Hunloke, got the Scarisbrick estates of Scarisbrick and Eccleston. She changed her name to Scarisbrick and when she died the estate was inherited by her daughter Eliza Margaret who married Remy Leon Biadudos, Marquis de Casteja. Eliza died on 13 November 1878 and it was her husband and son who paid for the present church to be built in her memory and dedicated to St. Elizabeth.
The interior of the church is spectacular and designed in the Victorian Gothic style by the Pugin brothers. The guided tour included details of the windows and the Delia Robbia. The interior of the roof is beautiful and the church is well worth a visit.
A very interesting and successful evening.