Then & Now, Early 1900's-2023. Weston Point Christ Church & Lighthouse. Said to be the only church in the world on an uninhabited island, Christ church was built in 1841 in a much different location to what exists today. It was Runcorn district's western-most place of worship, and faced out to the open estuary of the River Mersey for around half a century until the ship canal permanently made the entirety of the waterfront non-tidal.

The small lighthouse at Weston was built during the construction of the docks some three decades prior, and was twinned with another that still exists at Hale point on the opposite side of the river. Together they guided ships through the dangerous and often shallow estuary of the River Mersey. Weston lighthouse would have had its purpose of helping mariners on the upper Mersey turned redundant overnight. Although it still appeared on survey maps as much as half a century later which suggests that it may have served a new purpose of leading vessels from the river to the newly constructed Weston tidal locks, perhaps deliberately built directly opposite the lighthouse.

Built by the Weaver Navigation Co. for the use of the narrow-boat families who moored up here in Weston, Christ Church was part of the evolution of the waterways eventually led to intense growth of Weston Point. As the Weaver led into the docks it narrowed into Runcorn & Weston canal, which linked to Runcorn Docks and the Bridgewater canal further north into the ship yards and trading districts of the town. It is this system of waterways that helped boost Runcorn into becoming the industrial powerhouse of Cheshire. The tall chimneys in the background are those of the Castner-Kellner Alkali works, which became part of ICI and now INEOS which recently cemented its place in the area by constructing a new regional head office.

The church and lighthouse were entirely surrounded by dock basins and canals; behind it stood church cut and delamere dock, and to the right of the image, the locks leading to 'old' and 'new' basins. These were built as tidal locks for vessels to come to or from the Weaver navigation onto the mersey heading for Liverpool. This was a key part of the system that led to the construction of the Anderton boatlift in Northwich, which bypassed the slower route of the Trent & Mersey canal which instead had to journey through Preston Brook and Runcorn before reaching the river. Allowing the faster trade of salt, flint and china clay to the rest of the world.

Eventually the industry along the weaver navigation came to an end, and with it also the death of the Runcorn Weston canal, subsequently with the filling in of the Bridgewater canal which all took place in the mid 1900's. From then on the area you see in the images served as landing stages for vessels using the ship canal, and the lock gates removed or filled in to allow easier access across the docks by foot and vehicle. The houses you see in the older image were eventually replaced by the rapid growth of industry, with terraced estates built on farmland by ICI further back from the waterfront, creating the landscape we are familiar with today.

The church was subsequently de-consecrated in the 1980's having become increasingly remote from the local community. Stobart eventually purchased Weston docks, resulting in public access to the church being restricted altogether, allowing the church to fall deeply into dereliction. Only one dwelling still exists at Weston docks on canalside, entirely cut off from the rest of the town. Without the church having been granted Grade II listed status in the year 2000 it is unlikely that it would still survive into the future.