Campaigners battle to save landmark church spire and tower
Jun 18 2008
by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to save a “landmark” Victorian church tower and spire from demolition.
Preservationists have opposed plans to demolish St John the Divine church, in Holly Road, Fairfield.
The church council said it needed to be bulldozed because of its dangerous state. A spokesman added: “Structural engineers have advised that there are major problems with the church spire which make it a very serious health and safety risk.
“The repair work could cost anything up to £500,000 and would need to start immediately, so the church council felt we had no other option.”
The building will be demolished and the church will use the proceeds to further its work in the community.
The church now meets at L’arche, Lockerby Road, Liverpool.
Last night, the city’s historic environment champion Cllr Berni Turner said she had asked English Heritage to recommend the building be listed. The church was built by Victorian architect W Raffles Brown and has been a landmark since it was consecrated in the 1850s. The Victorian Society said that, as many of the Victorian houses to the south of the church are due to go as part of the Edge Lane widening scheme, demolition of the tower and spire could strip Fairfield of one of its last historic features.
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David Garrard, Historic Churches Adviser of the Victorian Society, said: “The loss of the tower and spire would be a great shame. It is one of the last surviving markers of Fairfield’s affluent past, as well as being a significant landmark today.”
Preservation campaigner Jonathan Brown said: “This is a highly prominent historic feature on the main highway approach to the city along Edge Lane, and forms part of a unique ensemble of ecclesiastical landmarks that punctuate the journey into Liverpool from the motorway network.”
Source:
Liverpool Daily Post
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