St Luke's Church, Farnworth
St Luke's Church, Farnworth, Widnes, is a church in Farnworth, which was once a separate village but which is now part of the town of Widnes, Cheshire, England. The church dates back to the 12th century and it contains a number of items of historical interest, in particular hatchments and memorials. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Liverpool, the archdeaconry of Warrington and the deanery of Widnes. History Farnworth is an ancient village some north of the River Mersey in what used to be the county of Lancashire. It has now been subsumed into the town of Widnes in the borough of Halton, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. Around 1180 a chapel was built in the village which was dedicated to St Wilfrid. At that time the village was known as St Wilfrids-on-the-Hill. It was a chapel of ease to the mother church at Prescot. Included within its boundaries were the townships of Bold, Appleton, Cronton, Cuerdley, Ditton and Penketh. Originally Farnworth was within the Mercian diocese of Lichfield but following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1541 the abbey at Chester was converted into a cathedral and Farnworth became part of the diocese of Chester. In 1859 the church was re-dedicated to St Luke and in 1880 it became a parish in the diocese of Liverpool. Over the years the church has had a number of benefactors, one of the earliest being Yorfrid the first (and in its own right the only) Baron of Widnes (the barony passed to the Barons of Halton when his daughter married William FitzNigel, the 3rd Baron of Halton). Since then, over the centuries, the main benefactors have been the Bold family of the nearby township of Bold. There have been many changes to the church, internally and externally, over the centuries. The first extension was about 1280–1300 when the north aisle was added. Between 1360 and 1380 the south aisle was added and around this time the tower was also built. The Bold Chantry (or Chapel) was added in 1406 and in 1431 the east end was extended. In 1500 the Cuerdley chapel was added to the south of the church. This was provided by Bishop William Smyth to allow his tenants in the village of Cuerdley to attend mass without coming into contact with the people of Farnworth at a time when plague was prevalent in the area. At a restoration in 1855 the nave, the north aisle and the Bold Chapel were rebuilt, the east end of the chancel was restored and the north side of the church and the vestry were repaired. A new roof was added to the nave. Galleries were built and the organ was moved into the gallery on the west wall. This restoration was carried out by William Culshaw. Farnworth became a separate parish in 1859. The last major internal restoration took place