Church of the Week
Preston, Lancashire
The spire of our Church of the Week – St Walburge’s church in Preston, Lancashire – towers over the city. At 309 feet tall, it’s visible for miles around – the tallest spire on a parish church and the third tallest spire overall in the UK. Designed by the Gothic Revival architect Joseph Hansom, the spire is made of repurposed limestone sleepers that originally carried the Preston and Longridge Railway. The inside of the spire is just as interesting as the outside – as well as its record-breaking height, it contains the heaviest swinging bell in Lancashire at 1.5 tonnes. If you climb the 173 spiral steps to the top of the spire, you’ll be rewarded with a magnificent 360-degree view over Preston and westwards to Blackpool and the Irish Sea coast. St Walburge’s received a National Churches Trust Maintenance Grant in 2018 and a Cornerstone Grant in 2022, to help ensure this magnificent building can stay open into the future for everyone to enjoy. If you visit, as well as taking in the spire, you can see a stunning Gothic Revival interior with Jesuit sensibilities, the spectacular Rose Window, and 24 life-sized statues of saints.
View Preston St Walburge