St Mary's Church, Cheadle

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St Mary's Church, Cheadle

St Mary's Church, Cheadle
St Mary's Church, Cheadle (Greater Manchester)
St Mary's Church, Cheadle
Shown within Greater Manchester
Basic information
Location Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England
Geographic coordinates 53°23′42″N 2°13′05″W / 53.3950, -2.2180Coordinates: 53°23′42″N 2°13′05″W / 53.3950, -2.2180
Religious affiliation Anglican
District Diocese of Chester
Ecclesiastical status Parish church
Leadership Rev. Rob Munro, Rector
Website St Mary's, Cheadle
Architectural description
Architectural type Church
Architectural style Perpendicular
Specifications
Materials Sandstone, slate roof

St Mary's Church, Cheadle is in High Street, Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England (grid reference SJ856887). It used to be a Grade I listed building but has since been downgraded to Grade II.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] History

A church has been on this site since at least 1200, but the present church was built mainly between 1520 and 1550.[3] The south chapel was completed in 1530, the nave in 1541, and the tower was built between 1520 and 1540.[1] The chancel was built between 1556 and 1558 for Lady Catherine Buckley, who had formerly been the Abbess of Godstow.[4] The south porch is dated 1634, but this was the date it was repaired rather than the date of its building.[5] There was a major restoration between 1875 and 1882 during which time a vestry was added in 1877. In the 20th century, a cloakroom was added.[1]

[edit] Structure

The church is built in grey sandstone and is entirely in the Perpendicular style.[5] Its plan consists of a tower centrally at the west, a four-bay nave with clerestory, a south porch and north and south aisles. At the east end of each aisle is a chapel. The chancel is wider than the nave, and to its north is a vestry.[4] The tower is in three stages with diagonal buttresses, a clock in the second stage, four-light belfry openings, and a castellated parapet with gargoyles. The parapet of the nave is also castellated. The porch has angled buttresses which terminate in crocketed pinnacles.[1]

[edit] Fittings and furniture

The roof is camber beam in type with gilded bosses. The chancel screen incorporates parts of the earlier rood screen. Both chapels have carved screens dating from the 16th century. In the south chapel are three recumbent effigies. Two are in alabaster and are thought to represent members of the Hondford (or Handford) family, Sir John, who died in 1461 and his son, also named John. The third is in sandstone and represents Sir Thomas Brereton of Handforth who died in 1673.[5] Kept on display in the church is an 11th-century stone cross,[6] discovered during the construction of the nearby Barnes Hospital in 1874.[7] In the south aisle is a fragment of ancient glass with the Stanley arms.[8] The baluster font dates from the 18th century.[9] The ring is of eight bells, six of which are dated 1749 and the other two 1882. The church plate includes an ancient silver chalice, a paten dated 1722 and a flagon dated 1734. The parish registers begin in 1558.[5]

[edit] External features

In the churchyard are the base of a medieval cross shaft which has been converted into a sundial,[10] the base of another cross in red sandstone dating from the 14th or 15th century which was restored to form a memorial in 1873,[11] and the 18th-century chest tomb of the Crosier family.[12] These are all listed Grade II. Also listed Grade II is the lych gate erected in 1883.[13]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Images of England: Church of St Mary, Cheadle. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  2. ^ Stockport MBC. Listed buildings in Stockport. stockport.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
  3. ^ Basic History. Cheadle Parish Church. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  4. ^ a b Salter, Mark (1995). The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire. Malvern: Folly Publications, 28–29. ISBN 1871731232. 
  5. ^ a b c d Richards, Raymond (1947). Old Cheshire Churches. London: Batsford, 91–93. 
  6. ^ The Cheadle Cross. Cheadle Parish Church. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  7. ^ Cheadle Conservation Area Character Appraisal. Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (March 2006). Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  8. ^ Cheadle, St Mary. Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (CVMA) of Great Britain. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  9. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Edward Hubbard [1971] (2003). The Buildings of England: Cheshire. New Haven: Yale University Press, 127. ISBN 0 300 09588 0. 
  10. ^ Images of England: Sundial. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  11. ^ Images of England: Cross. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  12. ^ Images of England: Crosier family chest tomb. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  13. ^ Images of England: Lych gate. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.

[edit] See also