The church was built in 1857–58 to a design by James Hibbert and Nathan Rainford.[1] It was for many years an active church, but has been redundant since 2011, when it was advertised for sale, at a price of £500,000. The Reverend Phil Jump said the church basement had housed a number of volunteer groups which would be impacted by its closure.[2] These included groups which supported the homeless in Preston.[3]
The church was later altered, by David Cox Architects Ltd of Preston, in a scheme shortlisted for an International Restaurant Design Award.[4] In August 2018 it saw the opening of French-gastro chain Bistro Pierre, making it one of the largest restaurants in the city.[5][6]
Architecture
Exterior
Fishergate Baptist Church is built in sandstone with slate roofs,[7] and is in Italian Romanesque style.[1] It has a rectangular plan, is in two storeys with a basement, and has a symmetrical entrance front facing the street. Eight steps lead up to a double doorway, each door having an arch in Mozarabic style, and both contained in a round-headed arch. Flanking the doorway are two round-arched windows on each side. The doorways and windows have pilasters with carved imposts, and above them is a cornice. The upper part of the entrance front contains corner pilasters and a pediment, the pediment containing a large wheel window and two smaller ones, all with hood moulds.[7] The rear of the church is gabled; the gable also contains a large wheel window, and two two-light mullioned windows.[7] Along the sides of the church are gabled projections, each containing a pair of windows.[1] At the southeast corner of the church is a tower. In the ground floor of the tower is a round-arched doorway, in the first stage is a single lancet window, and in the second stage are pairs of lancets; all of these are in Mozarabic style. On each side of the third stage there is a clock face with a pair of oculi above, all with hood moulds. Over these is a cornice with carvings of birds projecting from the corners, and a tall pyramidal roof.[7]
Interior
Steeply pointed arcades inside the church are carried on square piers. Doors at the far end of the building are flanked by foliated shafts, and a gallery with cast ironbalusters. The church also contains monuments to members of the Sellrers family, dating from the late 19th century.[1] The two-manualpipe organ was made by Henry Ainscough of Preston in 1870, and repaired by the same company in 1954;[8] its case is decorated with putti.[1]
Appraisal
The church was designated a Grade II listed building on 29 January 1986, the lowest of its three grades of listing that is applied to buildings that are "nationally important and of special interest".[9] Hartwell and Pevsner in the Buildings of England series comment that the tower is "rather starved".[1]
