St Anne's Church was built in 1872–73 as a chapel of ease to St Cuthbert's Church, Lytham, and was one of the first buildings to be constructed in what would become St Annes-on-the-Sea.[1] The land for the church was donated by the local Clifton family.[1] It was designed by Lancaster architects Paley and Austin at a cost of £4,229 (equivalent to £470,000 in 2023).[2][3] St Anne's became an independent ecclesiastical parish in 1877.[4] The seaside resort that grew up around the church took its name from it.[5] In 1885–1886 the church was enlarged by Richard Knill Freeman who added a transept, vestry and, to the north, an aisle.[1] A tower was added in 1890, and a lady chapel in 1909.[1] In 1919 the successor in the Lancaster architectural practice, Henry Paley, added a baptistry,[6] followed by repairs in and a memorial vestry in 1929–31.[7]
St Anne's was designated a Grade II listed building by English Heritage on 15 February 1993.[5] The Grade II designation—the third highest of the three grades—is for buildings that are "nationally important and of special interest".[8] An active church in the Church of England, St Anne's is part of the diocese of Blackburn, which is in the Province of York. It is in the archdeaconry of Lancaster and the Deanery of Kirkham. Both the parish and benefice are called St Anne (Heyhouses).[9]
The churchyard of St Anne's is triangular.[11] There is a sandstone memorial to six members of the St Anne's Laura Janet lifeboat crew who died attempting to rescue the Mexico in the 1886 Southport and St Anne's lifeboats disaster.[12] A memorial to more of the crew members that were lost is in the churchyard of St Cuthbert's in Lytham. The footballer and manager Harry Catterick is buried in the churchyard.
The churchyard is accessed by a rectangular Tudor-style lychgate, built of timber with a roof of red tile.[11] The churchyard is enclosed by a red brick wall. Together, the lychgate and boundary wall have been given a Grade II designation from English Heritage.[11]
Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, ISBN978-1-84802-049-8
Farrer, William; Brownbill, J., eds. (1912), "Lytham", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7, OCLC59626695
