The first building in England to use iron as a structural material was St Anne's Church, Liverpool.[1] It had cast iron columns and was built between 1770 and 1772.[1] An iron-frame mill built was built in Derby in 1792-93 and Wesleyan Chapel in Bilston, Staffordshire, had a cast iron pulpit, columns and window frames produced by John Wilkinson.[1]
This trend was continued by John Cragg, owner of Mersey Iron Foundry, and Thomas Rickman, an architect, who built three churches primarily out of iron.[1][2] Rickman made the designs for St George's Church, Everton, which was built between 1813 and 1814, and Cradd made the entire interior out of iron.[1] St George's Church was consecrated on the 30th of October 1814.[1][3] St Michael's Church, Aigburth, built between 1813 and 1815 and St Philip's Church, Hardman Street, built in 1816, both also have substantial cast iron elements in their structure and decoration.[1][2][3] St Michael's Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Chester in 1815.[4]
St Philip's in Hardman Street is now demolished.[5] In 2015, the Bishop of Liverpool attended a service celebrating the St Michael's Church's 200th anniversary.[4]
