St Luke's Church, Farnworth

Farnworth is an ancient village, situated approximately 2 mi north of the River Mersey in what used to be the county of Lancashire. It has now been subsumed into the town of Widnes in the borough of Halton, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. Around 1180, a chapel dedicated to St Wilfrid was built in the village when it was known as St Wilfrids-on-the-Hill. It was a chapel of ease to the mother church at Prescot. Included within its boundaries were the townships of Bold, Appleton, Cronton, Cuerdley, Ditton and Penketh. Originally Farnworth was within the Mercian diocese of Lichfield but following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1541 when the abbey at Chester was converted into a…

The octagonal font is made from local sandstone. It has been dated to around 1280. It was placed on a circular plinth during the 1894–95 restoration. The altar is made from wood taken from the rood screen which was taken down at the Reformation. The screen under the tower arch dates from the 17th century. A pew behind the pulpit is dated 1607. The lectern and pulpit date from the 1894–95 restoration. and that in the west window and in the east window in the transept are by Shrigley and Hunt. In the Bold chapel, the communion table dates from the early 17th century. The monuments in the chapel are considered to be "one of the best collections in the county". The oldest is a crude effigy of a…

This tells the story of how a griffin was terrorising the people and the animals of the area. The village blacksmith was persuaded to fight it. After a prolonged battle, he emerged victorious, slaying the griffin and earning acclaim as a hero by the people and given the name of "The Bold". This is said to be the origin of the family name of Bold and the griffin appears on all the family's heraldic decorations.