 Paley continued to work from the offices in St Leonard 's Gate after Sharpe 's resignation , but in 1860 he moved to offices in Castle Hill , where the practice remained throughout the rest of its existence . During the 1850s he designed St Peter , Lancaster , a Roman Catholic church that later became Lancaster Cathedral ( 1857 – 59 ) . This is regarded by Brandwood et al. as his " masterwork as an independent church architect " . Hartwell et al. agree , calling this church , with its northwest steeple 240 feet ( 73 m ) high , his chef d 'oeuvre . During the 1860s , Paley began to design churches with bare brick interior walls , rather than plastered walls , the earliest being St Peter , Quernmore ( 1860 ) . Although the High Victorian style was becoming popular elsewhere , it played little part in Paley 's designs , other than more elaborate decorative features , such as the embellishment of the principal rafters at Quernmore . He never used the more blatant features of the style , such as polychromy . During this decade , before the arrival of Austin , he designed churches for the industrial towns of Lancashire , one of the largest being St James , Poolstock ( 1863 – 66 ) . The rebuilding of St Peter 's Church , Bolton ( 1867 – 71 ) with its northwest tower rising to 180 feet ( 55 m ) , is considered by Brandwood et al. to be " Paley 's other great independent church project " . Hartwell et al. refer to it as a " formidable new church " . 
