Parish Church of St Bridget West Kirby with Caldy

It is hard to pinpoint how old St Bridget’s Church is, since it has been altered and added to over many centuries. Though we know that Christians worshipped here at the time of the first Millennium, the earliest parts of the building surviving and visible are the VESTRY DOORWAY and some of the masonry north wall of the Lady Chapel which are of the early 14th century.

For a technical architectural description, click here.

Click pics to enlarge

The TOWER is mainly 16th century, although built around an earlier core.

There is a ring of 8 bells, 4 of them over 200 years old - a skilled team ring for Sunday morning services as well as weddings and other occasions.

Much of the EAST WALL of the chancel and chapel is of 15th and 16th century date, although the window tracery (the stone divisions within the window) is a Victorian renewal of old work.

There was a major restoration of the church in 1869/1870 by the architects Kelly and Edwards of Chester. They rebuilt the aisle walls and replaced the arcades (the arches) which had been removed in the 18th century. At the same time, and in the years afterwards, a number of very fine fittings were added, including the stained glass and ironwork.

More about the

Hogback Stone

The "Hogback" stone is of Anglo-Norse origin, and dates from the early eleventh century, and the Norse (or "Viking") settlement of Wirral. It represents evidence of Christian burial and the use of this site for Christian worship at the last Millennium. It is a powerful reminder of the long Christian inheritance of the worshipping community at St Bridget's. It is appropriate that one of the oldest artifacts in this area is one which can witness to the vitality and continuity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is "the same, yesterday, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

The tracery of the EAST WINDOW behind the

High Altar is almost identical to that at Shifnal Church in Shropshire, but otherwise unique in design.

The STAINED GLASS is almost all to the design of Charles Kempe, thought by many to be the premier Victorian designer. It spans almost his whole career, from the Chapel east window of 1870 through to the dormer windows in the

roof of 1906/7.

Click for Kempe’s Annunciation window

The FONT, though it dates from the restoration of the Church, is based on a Norman design and is wide and deep, allowing in theory for baptism of children by total immersion (and for adults to sit in it and have the baptismal water poured over them !). We have yet to find any parents willing to have such an immersion baptism for their child!. However administered, Baptism is the sign of the new beginning God offers to us in Jesus Christ, washing away all that is wrong, showing his forgiveness, and raising us up to new life.

The Charles Dawson Brown Museum is in the old school building, adjacent to St Bridget’s Church Centre, and contains exhibits showing the history of the fabric of St Bridget’s Church over the last thousand years. Picture contact Rod Tann 625 1234

The Parish Logo (at the top of these pages) is reconstructed from a cross fragment, a thousand years old, on view in the museum.

Who was St Bridget?

St Bridget (or Brigid, Bride) was a contemporary of St Patrick, born about the year 455, traditionally to a pagan father and a Christian mother. She founded a religious community at Kildare, and became Abbess. Religious communities in the Celtic Church were often centres of study and evangelism, and Bridget is thus one of those responsible for the spread of the Gospel in Ireland. God's grace in Bridget was remembered throughout the Celtic world - hence the dedication of this church.

Click pics to enlarge

Caldy Church

For a technical architectural descriptions of Caldy Church, click here.

Caldy Church was consecrated as the Church of the Resurrection and All Saints in 1907: since 1882 the building, of red sandstone, had been a chapel, converted from an outbuilding of Caldy Manor by Elizabeth Barton in memory of her husband Richard . It was decorated by C E Kempe, who designed several windows and added a clock turret. The church contains many memorials to the Bartons. In 1893 the Manor passed to the Rev E A Waller, who added the north aisle and a saddle back tower. The building and its decoration – windows, reredos, screen and other fittings – has an attractive unity of style, mainly from this single period. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries the parishioners have continued to care devotedly for the church. It was refurbished in the 1960s, when the stalls and screens were painted in the present grey, white, gold and crimson. The black and white Hall, built in 1883 as a studio, was bought from the Manor and fitted out by the parish in the 1970s.

Click for description.

Epiphany window

Caldy Church Hall

Parish Registers

Records of baptisms, marriages and burials are transferred to the Diocesan Record Office. Enquiries should be directed to:

The Diocesan Archivist, Chester Diocesan Record Office,

Duke Street, Chester, CH1 1RL

( 01244 602 574. e-mail: recordoffice@chester.gov.uk

The Church of England’s Family History site is http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/librariesandarchives/familyhistory/index.html

The Cheshire Parish Register Project is in the process of transcribing the records from the years 1571-1871 onto an internet database. Click for more info.