St Mary in the Baum church has become just the third building in Rochdale to be given Grade I listed status.

The 100-year-old Toad Lane church joins St Edmund’s Church in Falinge, and Rochdale town hall, and becomes part of the exclusive club that includes magnificent English buildings such as Durham Cathedral and Buckingham Palace after being given the highest listing by English Heritage.

It comes following a long campaign by officials to have the building’s ‘superb’ architecture recognised.

Church warden Ann Sutcliffe said: “It’s very pleasing.

“It is a superb building and we thought it should be marked as such.

“It’s not a particularly old building, but everyone who visits remarks on how fantastic is it.

“It’s good for Rochdale as a whole.”

Designed by leading Victorian architect Ninian Comper the church was consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester on February 2, 1911.

Comper devised an ingenious plan to build on the complex and built-up site and St Mary in the Baum is also said to be the first church which shows his fusion of classical and Gothic styles.

Nick Bridgland, from English Heritage, said: “St Mary in the Baum is an architectural gem. It is one of the best examples of Sir Ninian Comper’s work, who is one of the most significant religious architects of the early 20th Century.

“It survives with very few changes and is a tour-de-force of Comper’s design skills in church fixtures and fittings and stained glass, which are exquisitely executed and demonstrate a high degree of craftsmanship.”

Listing means special consent must be applied for in order to make any changes to that building which might affect its special interest.

Meanwhile the church has also launched a campaign to raise the £16,000 needed to restore a stained glass memorial window to soldiers of the parish who died in the First and Second World Wars.

Anyone who would like to make a donation can call Mrs Sutcliffe on 640369.