The church was designed by John Latham and built between 1837 and 1839 at a cost of £4,500.
Member of Parliament.[2] The church was declared redundant on 1 November 1983. In May 1987 it was in "civic, cultural or community" use, and from 6 February 2001 it has been used for "worship by other Christian bodies".[3] From 2014 it was the Preston Elim Pentecostal Church.[4]
From 2018 it became known as St Thomas Centre, after it was purchased and used by City Church Preston.
Architecture
St Thomas' is built in
wheel window. There are doorways on each side of the church in the western bay of the aisles, the north doorway being gabled. The other bays along the sides of the aisles and the bays of the clerestory are divided by pilasters, and each contains a window. There is also a window in each side of the apse. Inside the church the arcades are carried on cylindrical piers. The interior of the church has been divided by the insertion of an upper floor.[5]
Appraisal
The church was designated as a Grade II listed building on 27 September 1979. Grade II is the lowest of the three grades of listing and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest".
Buildings of England series state that the church "is indeed an odd creature", commenting that although it is mainly Norman in style, the broach spire is not a Norman feature, and that the site of the tower, and the polygonal apse, are not typical of the Norman style.[1] A. Hewitson, writing in 1869, described the church as a "small, strong, hard-looking building".[2]
