Website by
Tony Rivron

The Font

  At THE FONT, Christians begin their life as members of the Church by sharing in the sacrament of Holy Baptism. This marks our entry to the Church, and so the font is placed near the west doors, the ceremonial entrance used on special occasions. The font is made from alabaster and has a fine oak cover. Especially interesting is the wonderful ironwork which lifts the cover - a marvellous piece of Victorian design.

The Altar

  When the Church was built, pews covered the whole parquet area of the floor, but twenty five years ago, a space was cleared for a people's altar in the nave. This temporary arrangement survived until recently. In 1994, a new platform was made, and recently the old high altar has been brought down for use here. This altar is the centre-piece of our worship, and here the Eucharist is celebrated each Sunday and on festivals.
The splendid marble and alabaster SCREEN was modelled by Waterhouse on the screen of St Mark's, Venice. It is unique in this country. The figures on the top of the screen are of St Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The Chancel

  This was the original focus of worship when the church was built. Now it is used for some weekday festivals. The oak seats on either side are for the choir. The ORGAN was built by William Hill of London in 1885. It was reduced in size and rebuilt in 1969. We hope to restore it to its original condition in due course. The marble seats on the left of the sanctuary are a SEDILIA. Here the clergy used to sit when this area was used for the regular Eucharist..

  The High Altar was brought to St Elisabeth's from the new demolished Church of the Holy Angels, Claremont, in Salford. In the marble screen behind the altar is placed the TABERNACLE. Here, the consecrated bread from the Eucharist is kept to take to the sick and also for a focus of devotion. The presence of the blessed sacrament of our Lord's Body and blood is marked by the white light burning in the hanging lamp.

The Houldsworth Chapel

  This was built after the First World War as a memorial to Sir William Henry Houldsworth, the founder of St Elisabeth's. His monument, made by the famous firm of Farmer and Brindley, is on the north wall of the chapel. Recently, this roof of this chapel has been redesigned so as better to blend in with the rest of the building.

  The chapel also contains a splendid triptych reredos with a fine oil painting of Our Lord’s Passion.

The Lady Chapel

  On the south side of the chancel is the Lady Chapel. This is a little church of its own, used for weekday services.    

  Before St Elisabeth's was built, the congregation met in another of our founder's benefactions to the people of Reddish: the Houldsworth Club. This still stands opposite the Church. The Club was designed by the architect Abraham Stott of Oldham. Stott created a large apsed room on the upper floor of the club to use for worship.    When Waterhouse built the Church, he sought to reflect some of the details of the club in the new church building and the Lady Chapel apse was made to exactly the same dimensions as the apse in the club opposite. Some of the furnishings were moved over to the new Church and the altar rails and lectern in the Lady Chapel survive from these earliest days of the life of our congregation.

  The oak and glass screens which now separate the Lady Chapel from the main Church was designed by Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams, the architects who currently care for the Church, and were made by George Sixsmith and Sons of Mossley in 1994. The screens enable the Lady Chapel to be heated apart from the main Church and also facilitate its use for Junior Church on Sunday mornings.

Using one of Britain’s finest Victorian Churches for worship and
service to the community.