St Anne
Ings, Cumbria
St Anne’s is a beautiful Grade II* Georgian church, one of the few examples from this period in the North of England.
First we must start at St Margaret’s!
Situated in the centre of the village the tower is now all that remains of St Margaret’s church. Dating back to 1338, by the mid 19th century the church was said to be damp and in poor repair, its congregation ‘small and spiritless’. It was, though, a time of reform generally and prosperity in Staveley and by 1865 sufficient funds had been raised for a new church on higher (and presumably drier) ground on the outskirts of the village.
A generous gift of land and money from local benefactor RW Buckley enabled St James’s to be built. Designed in gothic style by renowned church architect JS Crowther from Manchester (he later restored Manchester Cathedral), the church’s crowning glory was its chancel, with wood carvings reflecting the Arts & Craft movement and the beautiful east window, greatly admired to this day, designed and made by none other than Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris.
Progressively, over the following 50 years significant gifts to the church enabled a lychgate to be added and the internal fabric to be enhanced. Additions included a new altar and reredos, a new organ described as the best in the area, and a lectern. Silverwork in the church was made by the respected Keswick School of Industrial Art. A small piece of stained glass from St. Margaret’s in one of the chancel windows is the only reminder of its former heritage.