IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Sorogold Close, ST. HELENS, WA9 1BT

The coking plant at St. Helens gas works, which produced gas from coal, has long since been demolished but the gas holder still dominates the skyline from miles around. (A similar gasometer at Southport has just been demolished.)

Work in progress on dismantling the second of St Helens two former giant gasholders which were located either side of Peasley Cross Road. The first went many years ago while this one was taken down over the summer and autumn of 2012,

Architects W&J Jay, 1857. Chancel added 1885. Faced with copper slag blocks and cement, with walls infilled with industrial rubble.

It is indeed sad news that Holy Trinity Church in Fingerpost is likely to be closed and demolished. The way in which it was constructed using copper slag blocks, cement and industrial rubble is probably one of the reasons it is so costly to maintain.

Holy Trinity Church was built in 1857 in the “Early English “style”, simple with a layout based on the typical rural church of the 13th Century. The church was built to a T-shaped plan. There were galleries at the west end and in each transept, and the building could seat 616 people. In 1886 the church was extended and reordered in order to accommodate changes in the style of Anglican worship in the late Victorian era. Parr/Fingerpost was not a wealthy area so a cheap and plentiful local material was used for the outer face of the solid walls: slag from the local copper works. This very hard, glassy material (a waste product) was used locally for building although its use in building declined and was almost extinct by the 1880s; very few slag buildings survive today. The church is a Grade II listed building (Historic England List Entry Number: 1199308 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1199308 ).

Holy Trinity Church was built in 1857 in the “Early English “style”, simple with a layout based on the typical rural church of the 13th Century. The church was built to a T-shaped plan. There were galleries at the west end and in each transept, and the building could seat 616 people. In 1886 the church was extended and reordered in order to accommodate changes in the style of Anglican worship in the late Victorian era. Parr/Fingerpost was not a wealthy area so a cheap and plentiful local material was used for the outer face of the solid walls: slag from the local copper works. This very hard, glassy material (a waste product) was used locally for building although its use in building declined and was almost extinct by the 1880s; very few slag buildings survive today. The church is a Grade II listed building (Historic England List Entry Number: 1199308 https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1199308 ).