St Helen Witton Church, Northwich

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St Helen Witton Church, Northwich

St Helen's Church, Northwich
St Helen Witton Church, Northwich (Cheshire)
St Helen Witton Church, Northwich
Shown within Cheshire
Basic information
Location Northwich, Cheshire, England
Geographic coordinates 53°15′40″N 2°30′05″W / 53.2612, -2.5015Coordinates: 53°15′40″N 2°30′05″W / 53.2612, -2.5015
Religious affiliation Anglican
District Diocese of Chester
Ecclesiastical status Parish church
Leadership Rev. Malcolm Cowan, Vicar
Website Parish of St Helen Witton
Architectural description
Architectural type Church
Architectural style Gothic
Specifications
Materials Red sandstone

St Helen Witton Church, Northwich is in the centre of the town of Northwich, Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ665739). It is a Grade I listed building.[1] The church is now known as "St Helen's, Witton" or "Northwich Parish Church".[2] Clifton-Taylor includes it in his list of 'best' English parish churches.[3] It continues to be an active parish church.[4]

Contents

[edit] History

The church was originally a chapel of ease to Great Budworth and the area was then known as Witton. The present building dates from the 14th century, with additions in the 15th, 16th and 19th centuries.[5]

[edit] Structure

The church is built in red sandstone with flattish roofs concealed by parapets.[1] The plan consists of a tower at the west end, a six-bay nave with north and south aisles, a chancel with a polygonal east apse, a vestry to the north and a south porch.[6] The tower has four stages, is crenellated and has diagonal buttresses and a west door. Above this is a four-light window, two-light bellringers' windows on the north and south faces, an empty niche on west face, a clock with faces to all sides and paired two-light bell openings.[1]

[edit] Fittings and furniture

Over the nave and chancel is a continuous camber-beam and panel oak roof with diagonal cross-braces, large carved bosses at the junctions of the main beams and smaller ones at the junctions of the secondary beams.[1] There are no memorials of distinction and most of the old fittings were discarded in the 19th century restorations. A 17th century altar table is still present. The ring is of eight bells, five of them dated 1712. The parish registers begin in 1561 and the churchwarden's accounts from the 17th century.[5]

[edit] External features

In the churchyard is an 18th century red sandstone sundial with a copper dial which is listed Grade II.[7]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Images of England: Church of St Helen, Northwich. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-08-06.
  2. ^ Parish of St Helen Witton, Northwich. Parish of St Helen Witton, Northwich. Retrieved on 2007-08-06.
  3. ^ Clifton-Taylor, Alec (1974). English Parish Churches as Work of Art. London: Batsford, 240. ISBN 0 7134 2776 0. 
  4. ^ Parish of St Helen Witton. Parish of St Helen Witton. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  5. ^ a b Richards, Raymond (1947). Old Cheshire Churches. London: Batsford, 360-364. 
  6. ^ Salter, Mark (1995). The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire. Malvern: Folly Publications, 60. ISBN 1871731232. 
  7. ^ Images of England: Sundial. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.