ST STEPHEN'S CE CHURCH, LINDLEY
St Stephen’s a Waterloo Church, is one of over 600 constructed in the early 19th Century using funds (following the Church Building Act of 1818) allegedly granted as a token of the national thanks for Victory at Waterloo.
The original simple square box plan was subsequently extended by the Victorians to include a Chancel, Sanctuary, Gallery and Tower.
The Parish required additional social and community spaces and these were achieved by very carefully dividing the volume of the Nave into three storeys served by staircases and a lift.
The division of the social spaces and the worship area was provided by a glazed arched screen, which echoed the form of the timber hammer-beamed roof. This screen and all floors were supported at first floor level by a massive steel beam, which also carried a mobile dividing wall at ground floor level.
The mobile dividing wall creates a large meeting room for after-worship, or independent use, and, when opened up, restores the full original capacity of the Nave of St Stephen’s for special occasions, using chairs, in lieu of pews.
The design of the dividing arched screen, (which also includes the transferred original gallery.