Our Lady of the Annunciation, Childwall

Introduction

Our Lady of the Annunciation in Childwall, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, is a Gothic church opened in 1858, distinguished by its notable stained glass, including the large 'Doom' window erected in 1923. For over one hundred years the church served as a devotional chapel, with a shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour established in 1866, until it became a parish in 1961.

History

The chapel bore the name 'Our Lady of the Annunciation', a title kept in 1858 by the Redemptorists for their church. The congregation outgrew the chapel, so in 1857 the building was taken to pieces and portions incorporated into the present building under Edward Welby Pugin, with formal opening on 15th July 1858. The marble High Altar and reredos were designed by John Francis Bentley and erected in 1865. The West window, by J. Kempe of London, completed in 1920, represents the Last Judgement and is part of a First World War memorial.

A Millennium Window was inserted in 2000, illustrating Liverpool Church life and work, by Pendle Stained Glass of Padiham. In 1973 the altar was brought forward and the predella extended. The outermost of the five lancet windows in the apse were given simple, bordered glazing in 2007, echoing the northwestern window. The monthly parish quiz, which once brought people together, has ended because of a lack of volunteers.

Architecture and furnishings

The church contains stained glass by John Hardman and Sons of Birmingham, except for the Millennium and West windows. The chapel to the northeast of the sanctuary is the shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, with a copy of the original icon placed in 1869. The Lady Altar is flanked with a pair of silver gilt hanging lamps made in galleon form. The church has a stone altar and reredos in honour of Our Lady of Sorrows, with a Pieta in an arched reredos.

The church has a window in memory of G.O. Sharples showing Saint George and Saint Frances of Rome. The church has a domestic oratory above the south transept containing the first copy of the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour to come to Britain. The church has a window of Saint Edward the Confessor in the first bay of the north aisle, preserved from the Bishops' chapel. The jewelled, enamelled and copper-gilt tabernacle and the pulpit were added in 1866, also to Bentley's design; the pulpit was lowered by two steps in 1980.

The chapel to the northeast of the sanctuary, dedicated to Saint Alphonsus, has a rose window depicting him bearing a monstrance. A south aisle window depicts the Sacred Heart and Our Lady of the Rosary, with Saint Gerard Majella and Saint Clement Hofbauer, introduced just before World War I. The former South porch is a chapel with a wooden statue of Saint Gerard. The decorated wood panels lining the sanctuary were taken from the earlier chapel.

On marble panels in the Lady Chapel are inscribed the names of Redemptorists buried in the vault beneath, including a translator of Saint Alphonsus' hymns. The church has a stone statue of Saint Alphonsus Liguori placed in the gateway niche in 1932 to commemorate the bicentenary of the foundation of his Congregation.