Stone or Plaster - The Interior 

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Reference is made to the plastered interior 

Quotes as follows - 

"It is a pity the interior is all plastered cream colour and not ashlar faced"

"For the sake of economy Stokes had to change his plans to have a stone dressed interior. Instead all the walls are plastered."

While the interior is mostly plastered now it is interesting to see sketches made in 1899 .

Compare the sketch by Sproat of 1889 and the interior now . The sketch appears to show stone finish both to columns and arches. Compare also the interior to Pendlebury which also has stone columns and plaster wall finishes.

It would seem possible that the columns and arches were in fact originally of stone and that they were plastered over at a later date. Refer to  Pendlebury Church which also has stone columns. It has been suggested that Stokes partly modeled St Clare's on Pendlebury.

               A sketch of St Clare's made in 1889

 St Clare's Interior now                                          Pendlebury