St Mary's Church Hawkshaw

The parish church of Hawkshaw, designed by the Bury architects Maxwell and Tuke — the practice better known for Blackpool Tower — and fifteen years in the making.

A competition, then a long wait

An architectural competition was held in 1877 to choose a design for a new church at Hawkshaw, and the first premium was awarded to Maxwell and Tuke of Bury. A start was made in 1881, when the site was fenced and the foundations laid, but the work then stood still for most of a decade. A contract was finally let in 1890, for £3,100.

Consecration

The church was consecrated on 10 March 1892. The tower the design had called for was never built.

Parish

St Mary's belongs to the Parish of Holcombe and Hawkshaw, in the Deanery of Bury and Rossendale, Diocese of Manchester, together with Emmanuel Church, Holcombe.

Sources: Architects of Greater Manchester; A Church Near You — St Mary, Hawkshaw.