OS grid reference SJ 856 887 Denomination Church of England Parish Cheadle Status Parish church | Country England Website St Mary's, Cheadle Phone +44 161 428 8050 | |
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Location High Street, Cheadle,
Greater Manchester Churchmanship Conservative Evangelical Address High St, Cheadle SK8 1PX, UK Architectural style English Gothic architecture Similar St Mary's Church - Stockport, St James' Church - Birkenhead, Christ Church - Chester, Barnes Hospital - Cheadle, Abney Hall | ||
St Mary's Church is in High Street, Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Cheadle. Its benefice is united with that of St Cuthbert, Cheadle.
Contents
History
A church has been on this site since at least 1200, but the present church was built mainly between 1520 and 1550. The south chapel was completed in 1530, the nave in 1541, and the tower was built between 1520 and 1540. The chancel was built between 1556 and 1558 for Lady Katheryn Bulkeley, who had formerly been the Abbess of Godstow. The south porch is dated 1634, but this was the date it was repaired rather than the date of its building. The church was rebuilt and restored between 1859 and 1862, and there was a further restoration by J. Medland Taylor in 1878–80. In the 20th century, a cloakroom was added.
Exterior
The church is built in grey sandstone and is entirely in the Perpendicular style. 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. The tower is in three stages with diagonal buttresses, a clock in the second stage, four-light bell openings, and a castellated parapet with gargoyles. The parapet of the nave is also castellated. The porch has angle buttresses which terminate in crocketed pinnacles. The doorway is of Tudor pattern with panels of carved tracery. At the west end of the chancel gable is a bellcote.
Interior
The roof is camber beam in type with gilded bosses. The chancel screen incorporates parts of the earlier rood screen. The choir stalls date from the 19th century, and are elaborately carved with scenes and poppyheads. The sedilia dates from 1862, and the pulpit from the 1870s. Both chapels have carved screens containing original material from the 15th and 16th centuries in their lower parts. The baluster font is dated 1837 and is by George Smith. On display in the church is an 11th-century stone cross, discovered during the construction of the nearby Barnes Hospital in 1874. 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. The church contains brasses dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. There is also a tablet dated 1817 by John Bacon junior. In a south aisle window is a fragment of ancient glass with the Stanley arms. This has been incorporated in a window of 1917 designed by Christopher Whall. On the south side of the church is a window of 1921 by Veronica Whall. There are windows in the sides of the chancel dating from the 1860s by Charles Gibbs, and windows elsewhere by Mayer of Munich. The organ was built in 1881 by Hill and Son of London. There is a ring of eight bells. Six of these by Abel Rudhall are dated 1749 and the other two by John Taylor and Company date from 1882. The parish registers begin in 1558.
Present day
On 24 March 1950, the church was designated as a Grade I listed building.
St Mary's Church is within the Conservative Evangelical tradition of the Church of England, and it has passed resolutions to reject the ordination of women.