St David's Church, Haigh

St David's was built between 1830 and 1833 to a design by Thomas Rickman and Henry Hutchinson.[4] A grant of £3,433 (equivalent to £350,000 in 2021)[5] was given towards its construction by the Church Building Commission.[3] The church was consecrated by the Rt Revd John Bird Sumner, bishop of Chester, on 2 November 1833. It was originally a chapel of ease to Wigan Parish Church, becoming a parish in its own right in 1838.[6] In 1886 the east end of the church was extended by J. Medland Taylor.[4]

The church is constructed in stone. The roof is slated and has a ridge of red tiles.[2] Its architectural style is Gothic Revival.[3] The plan consists of a nine-bay nave with a west porch and a north projection, and a lower and narrower two-bay chancel with an organ chamber to the south. The porch is gabled with triple lancet windows and doorways on the north and south sides. Above the porch is a gabled bellcote. The east window has three lights.[2] Along the sides of the church are thin buttresses interspersed with tall lancet windows. Inside the church, the nave has a flat ceiling, and the chancel has a hammerbeam roof. At the west end is a stone gallery, with a baptistry under the south arch. The stained glass includes a window by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.[4]

The lychgate at the entrance to the churchyard, and the adjoining churchyard wall, are listed at Grade II. The lychgate is in stone with a slate roof, and is dated 1909. There are gargoyles at the corners, and a cross on the ridge.[7] The churchyard contains the war graves of three service personnel of World War I, and seven of World War II.[8]

• Listed buildings in Haigh, Greater Manchester
• List of churches in Greater Manchester
• List of Commissioners' churches in Northeast and Northwest England
• List of new churches by Thomas Rickman