History of Saint Anne's

The old church

In the early 19th century, the districts known as Old Swan and Stoneycroft were one scattered hamlet. Thanks to the vicinity of the cattlemarket, on market days the local public houses and hotels were crowded with country customers, and the packed bar rooms noisy with strange dialects, as crowds of drovers ate and drank. As the market day ended, and the road cleared of departing cattle, Stanley became once again a very quiet rural village.

In 1830 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened and the district developed rapidly. Where St. Anne's Church now stands, was an iron foundry, standing back from the road. Tue Brook, then a clear stream, flowed past the works and provided the water necessary for the foundry. About this time the property was bought by Mr. Thomas Gardner, whose son, of the same name, was in Holy Orders, and married to the daughter of one Samuel Hilton, of Anfield. These two gentlemen, assisted by a grant from the Church Building Society, built the first Church in Stanley. Mr. Gardner (Senior) also built and furnished a house for his son at the east end of what had been the foundry offices, and the remaining land was laid out as a garden to the parsonage.

The Church, consecrated on October 13th 1831, was a plain building of red sandstone, with a low pitched roof, squat tower, consisting of a nave and shallow chancel with round headed windows. In about 1878, additions to the building, originally rectangular, made it more cruciform. Internally, the flat ceiling was supported by iron columns and there was a West Gallery. The pulpit, reading desk and clerk's place were of the old "three decker" type.

Set into the wall on the Prescot Road side of the church yard is one of the water fountains that Charles Pierre Melly built in the 19th century to provide a supply of clean water to the working class of the city. Only 9 of these remain and the 'Friends of Liverpool Monuments Civic Society' are trying to get the fountains restored. More information is available on their website

The Reverend Thomas Gardner resigned in 1880 and named his son, The Reverend Hilton Gardner, as his successor, it being provided that for a period of fifty years from the Consecration the right of Presentation should remain with the Founder's family.