St Mary's Church, Walton-on-the-Hill

St Mary's was originally the parish church of the Hundred of West Derby and of the area containing what was to become the city of Liverpool. A church on the site is mentioned in the Domesday Book; this was rebuilt in 1326. The nave was rebuilt in 1741, followed by the chancel in 1810. None of this has survived, the oldest part of the present church being the west tower, which was built in 1829–32 to a design by John Broadbent, a pupil of Thomas Rickman. The north side of the church was remodelled in 1840, and the chancel was rebuilt in 1843. In 1911 a south aisle, incorporating a chapel, an ambulatory, and a vestry were added by Nagington and Shennan. Most of the church, apart from the…

Inside the church are concrete vaults on a steel frame. At the west end is a stone gallery carried on three arches. In the chapel is a reredos that includes a copy of the Deposition of Christ by Fra Angelico, executed in 1860 by Vincenzo Corsi; this was formerly in Haigh Hall. The sandstone font is Norman but damaged. It is large and circular, and has carved panels depicting biblical scenes. The font was broken into pieces in 1941 and restored by E. Carter Preston, who also designed the stained glass in the church. At the east end of the church is a fragment of an Anglo-Saxon cross shaft.