St Peter's Church, Bolton

The church, on a hill overlooking the River Croal, is the fourth to be built on the site. Until the 1840s the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Bolton-le-Moors covered a large area and was divided into townships, some of which had chapels of ease. The modern parish covers the town centre and its immediate surroundings. Demolition of the 15th-century church in 1866 revealed several pre-Norman stones under the tower, including a preaching cross in three pieces. Fragments of other crosses and stones from the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, a sepulchral slab, stone coffin, and the remains of a 14th-century stone female figure, indicate that two earlier churches had existed on the same site, one…

The church is 67 ft wide, 156 ft long, and 83 ft in height. Its tower rises to 180 ft, making it the tallest church tower in the historic county of Lancashire.