St Thomas' Church, Parkgate

About

St Thomas' Church is in School Lane, Parkgate, Cheshire, England. It is an Anglican chapel of ease in the parish of St Mary and St Helen, Neston, the deanery of Wirral South, the archdeaconry of Chester, and the diocese of Chester. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. Because of its earlier associations with the fishing community, it has been called the "Fisherman's Church".

History: St Thomas' was built in 1843 as a Congregational chapel. In 1858 it was sold to the Presbyterian church, but the congregation soon moved to a different building leaving St Thomas' empty. The Church of England leased it in 1910, and bought it in 1917, when it became a chapel of ease to the parish church in Neston. By 1994 there were concerns about the stability of the building, it was closed in July of that year, and demolition seemed likely. The church was listed at Grade II the following year. In 2001 the Bishop's Trust for the Restoration of St Thomas' Parkgate was established. English Heritage gave a grant of £40,000 and together with fundraising by local groups, a total of £250,000 was made available for the church to be...