St Hilary's Church, Wallasey

St Hilary's Church, Wallasey
St Hilary's Church, Wallasey, from the south
St Hilary's Church, Wallasey Location in Merseyside
Coordinates: 53°25′18″N 3°03′36″W / 53.4216°N 3.0600°W / 53.4216; -3.0600
OS grid reference	SJ 296 928
Location	Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Hilary, Wallasey
History
Dedication	Saint Hilary of Poitiers
Consecrated	1859
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	20 January 1988
Architect(s)	W. & J. Hay
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic, Gothic Revival
Specifications
Materials	Stone, slate roofs Separate tower in stone
Administration
Parish	Wallasey
Deanery	Wallasey
Archdeaconry	Chester
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Clergy
Rector	Revd Alan William Ward
Laity
Reader(s)	John Tomkins Valerie Sparks
Director of music	Mr Paul Jackson
Churchwarden(s)	Mr James Houghton

St Hilary's Church is in the town of Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside, England. It consists of a church built in 1858–59 and the separate tower of a former medieval church. Both the church and the tower are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated Grade II listed buildings. The church is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Wallasey.

The present building is believed to be the sixth church on the site. The first church is thought to have been built in Saxon times and was probably built of timber and of which there is no trace. Several stones have been found of a Norman structure on the site. It is thought that a new church was built between 1162 and 1182 by William de Waley. This was rebuilt and a tower added during the reigns of Edward I and Edward II. The next rebuilding was in the age of Henry VIII when the tower of 1530 was reconstructed. In 1757, the church was described as ruinous and it was rebuilt.

This structure was accidentally burnt down in 1857, reputedly because the sexton over-stoked the heating boiler, and bacon being cured in the boilerhouse began to drip fat, causing the old prayer mats beneath them to catch fire. Because Wallasey had no fire service, a messenger had to be dispatched to Birkenhead, and by the time the fire brigade arrived the structure was beyond saving. The church was rebuilt as a separate building in 1858–59, leaving the tower as a freestanding edifice. The architects of the present church were W. and J. Hay.

The church is built in stone with a slate roof. Its plan consists of a nave with clerestory, north and south aisles under lean-to roofs, a crossing tower with transepts, and a chancel with a north vestry and a south chapel.