Ormskirk Parish Church is one of only three churches in England to have both a tower and a spire; it is unique in having them both at the same end of the building. It also has significant historical interest; it is the burial place of the Stanleys, Earls of Derby, up to the mid C19, and of other branches of that family, and currently serves as the Civic Church of West Lancashire. For all that, it is a living, working, church.
A church may have stood here for a thousand years or more, for the name of the town suggests a Scandinavian origin; but the oldest structural feature, the late Norman window on the north side of the chancel, is thought to have been built around 1170. Ormskirk Church with its endowments was bestowed on the Canons Regular of Burscough Priory (about two miles distant) by Robert, Lord Lathom, in 1189. There have been many alterations and additions since then, culminating in a major restoration towards the close of the nineteenth century including the reconstruction of the nave pillars, the oak timbered roof and most of the windows. The chancel arcade dates from about 1270, the base of the spire from 1430, and the great tower from 1540 or thereabouts; and other 15th and 16th century work remains.
Why tower and steeple?
The answer is nothing to do with obstinate sisters. Henry VIII determined on the dissolution of the monasteries, and Burscough Priory had to go. Our tower was built apparently to house some of its bells, the existing steeple being inadequate for this. Masons’ marks we are told, suggest that they may have carted some of the stones from the Priory tower and used them here.* One of the bells, older than Ormskirk’s tower, stands in the Bickerstaffe Chapel to-day.
A Tour of the Church
The South Porch
This is the most recent part of the structure. It was built in 1891 with the gifts of the children of the parish.
Inside the doors is the dog-whipper’s bench, fitted with a drawer for gloves, whip and tongs, to separate and remove fighting dogs that had followed their masters into church.
On the wall is a 17th-century book rack (originally loaves of bread for the poor were put out on these shelves),
The Tower
The Tower dates from 1540-1550 and was probably erected to house some of the bells from Burscough Priory. One of these bells dated 1497 and 1576 (the 5 is very thin and looks like a I) served there and at Ormskirk for a period of 450 years, and was retired only in 1948, when the Ring was recast and a new tenor made to replace it. The donor of the old bell, J.S. de B.armig. (Knight) has not been identified. The devices interspersed with the lettering round the bell are Tudor badges. The bell weighs over 25 cwt.
Of the present Ring of eight bells, five probably contain metal from the Priory bells. They were re-cast in 1714. Two more were added at the lighter end sixty years later. All were recast in 1948 when the new tenor was added.
Church Clock
In 1972 the old church clock which was first built in 1883 was repaired and the movement electrified by the gift of Mrs. Mary Ellison in the memory of her husband, Alfred , and her daughter Marjorie.
On the wall near the Belfry Door is a tablet to the memory of William Moorcroft, Pioneering Asian Explorer who was born near Ormskirk and was baptised in the Church in 1767. He is reputed to have been the first Veterinary Surgeon in the country and he died in Afghanistan in 1825.
The North Aisle
In 1593 (and probably for many years before and after) this was where the font and baptistery stood. The comparatively modern north aisle follows older lines, and built into the north wall are two fragments of ancient work, a crocketed 16th. Century hood-mould and the base of a clustered pier. Near to them is the Mosoke brass, the most interesting of the brasses in the church. It claims a family grave in this aisle going back to 1276, when the church was still served by a priest from Burscough Priory and ten years before Ormskirk had its market.
The Bickerstaffe Chapel
Its interesting features are the 15th-century window near the pulpit, which probably has its original iron stanchion and saddle bars; and the groove to its left marking the place where either an altar or one of the pontombs now in the Derby Chapel once stood . The chapel was the site of Our Ladie of Pitie, founded by Thomas Atherton of Bickerstaffe who died in 1515. The old Churchwarden’s chest, has the usual three locks (so that it could not be opened unless vicar and both wardens were together).
The Font
The font, dated 1661, was given by the Countess of Derby, heroine of the siege of Lathom House, in thanksgiving for the restoration of King Charles n. It does not look its age, partly because it was refurbished in 1842 after being discarded for seventy years in favour of a then fashionable marble font.
In 1973 the old font was moved to its present position in the Bickerstaffe Chapel under the supervision of George G. Pace, Architect, who also designed the font cover in memory of James and Annie Orrnesher which was dedicated in 1974. Mr Pace was also responsible for the design of the new lighting equipment and fittings throughout the Church which were provided by the contributions of parishioners in 1972.
The Organ
This magnificent instrument includes pipes from an earlier organ, the 1731 gift of Jane Brooke, of Astley Hall, Chorley which had been placed in a gallery at the West Tower. As part of the major restoration of the church an enlarged organ was re-sited in 1894 above the new Vestry overlooking the Chancel. A further enlargement in 1927, by the generosity of George Blundell increased the speaking stops to fifty six so that, with the pistons and couplers, the organist now has a range of 109 controls at his finger-tips and feet, in addition to three keyboards and a pedalboard.
The Nave
The pillars and roof were erected between 1886 and 1889, but blend well with the earlier work. Notice the small stone shields carved at the top of the first two arches on either side. They carry Tudor badges (like those on the old bell) and mark out what is known as the Kings’Chancel (see later, on the Derby Chapel and Lady Margaret Beaufort).
The Chancel
High on the walls, at the entrance to the chancel, stone figures representing St. Peter and St. Paul face each other.
As you stand at the chancel steps, facing east, the late Norman window is to your left. This was rediscovered behind Board
and plaster in the 1880s and partially restored. Facing it, on your right, is the second oldest feature of the building, the Early English arcade of two arches, supporting modern work above. The arcade is thought to date from about 1270, and could have been erected when first a chapel was built beyond it. The middle memorial on the wall above it is to Dr. Brandreth, a pioneer of medicine in Ormskirk, whose name is commemorated in the Brandreth Hospital.
The east window was given by a descendant of Nathaniel Heywood, a saintly vicar who was ejected from his office in 1662, in common with at least 2,000 other clergymen for refusal to conform with the restrictive terms of the Act of Uniformity. Despite much official persecution he continued to minister to the people of the parish until his privations brought about his death in 1677. The people’s love for him ensured that despite the ejection he was buried in the chancel.
Reredos
The reredos, given at the last restoration, is believed to be the work of a Munich craftsman using Russian oak. The figures and the table are carved from one piece of timber.
The Derby Chapel
The chapel is home to four effigies. They represent, on the far right, the first Earl of Derby and his first wife, Lady Eleanor Neville, sister of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (‘The Kingmaker’); and on the left, his second wife, Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII, and, next to her, the great grandson of the first couple, who was the third Earl. The first three effigies were once in Burscough Priory; but following the dissolution the third Earl made provision by will for the construction of the chapel and a vault beneath, and for bringing the effigies here. The vault was the burial place of the Derby family until 1851. Thus here was buried the seventh Earl, who was beheaded during the Civil War, and his heroic wife Charlotte de la Tremouille, who with a scanty force sustained and repelled a three month siege of Lathom House.
The chapel incorporates the site of an earlier Lady Chapel. In 1366 this was endowed by public appeal, and a list of 476 subscribers forms the earliest directory of Ormskirk and its neighbourhood. Many names are those of families living here to-day.
The Derby Chapel now contains two pontombs erected about 1595 in the Bickerstaffe Chapel. The chest is a recent gift. The carved oak figure nearby, though perhaps three hundred years old, is a newcomer to Ormskirk. But he has the right idea; he is in church every Sunday without fail! The chapel became the War Memorial Chapel after the first world war.
The Scarisbrick Chapel
This chapel, especially from the 16th century became the burial place of the Scarisbrick family. Its great treasure is the large brass, now on the wall between the two windows, and unfortunately very difficult to see. The subject of the brass, which was probably first mounted on a tomb at Burscough Priory, is thought to be Henry Scarisbrick, who married Katherine, daughter of Sir John Pilkington, and went with his father-in-law [Q the French wars. The King had summoned 500 Lancashire bowmen to assemble at Warrington in July 1415, and on the muster-roll before embarkation at Southampton a month later appears the name of Henry Sharsbrock. with a retinue of two horses. He fought at Agincourt and was Knighted on the field. He returned home with the King in November, but four years later went to France again and died or was killed during the siege of Sens in 1420.
The South Aisle
The original south aisle existed when the spire was built in 1430, and that it had a ridged roof lower than the present one; and second, that the old aisle was narrower, so that the old south arcade stood further to the south (i.e. nearer to the outside wall) than the present one. There seems to have been a good deal of building and rebuilding in the 16th century, and again about 1729.
The Spire
The spire was first built about 1430. It is one of a family of three within a few miles, the others being at Halsall and Aughton. It was blown down (or fell) in 1731, rebuilt in 1790, and made good a second time in 1832 after being struck by lightning. There have also been changes in the arch piercing the north wall of its base. Stone work of varying periods can be distinguished from inside the church. One small bell in the steeple bears the date 1716, when it was probably recast.