St James' Church, Gawsworth

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Coordinates: 53°13′27″N 2°09′58″W / 53.2241°N 2.1661°W / 53.2241; -2.1661
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St James' Church, Gawsworth
Style
Perpendicular
Specifications
MaterialsLimestone nave
Sandstone tower and chancel
Lead roof
Administration
ProvinceYork
DioceseChester
ArchdeaconryMacclesfield
DeaneryMacclesfield
ParishGawsworth
Clergy
RectorRt. Rev W. A. Pwaisho

St James' Church is in the village of

Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Macclesfield.[2] Clifton-Taylor includes it in his list of 'best' English parish churches.[3] The authors of the Buildings of England series describe the church as being "pretty, but odd".[4]

History

There is a record of a chapel on the site in the 13th century but the present building dates from the 15th century.[5]

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in yellow and red

Tudor badges. The porch also has niches over the doorway.[5] The nave and chancel are embattled with pinnacles.[4]

Interior

The rafter beam ceiling of the nave dates from the 15th century and the camber beam chancel ceiling, which is panelled, dates from slightly later.[7] The chancel screen is dated 1894. The octagonal 16th-century font sits on a 19th-century stem with a wooden cover.[1] At the east end of the chancel is a sanctus cot and bell. In the 19th century most of the old stained glass was removed, although fragments remain in the chancel windows.[5][8] The stained glass in the east window is by William Wailes.[4]

In the chancel are four tombs of members of the Fitton (Fytton) family. The oldest is an altar tomb to

Queen Elizabeth I and a candidate for the "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets. The fourth tomb is to the memory of Sir Edward Fitton, 2nd baronet, who died in 1643, and his first wife Jane.[5]

The two-manual organ was built by Nicholson and Lord of Walsall in 1895, obscuring the southwest window. In 1917 it was enlarged by Hayter and Son of Letchworth, obscuring the west window. In 1961 the organ was rebuilt and divided by Cyril Wood of Ashton-under-Lyne to reveal the west window.[9] There is a ring of eight bells. Six of these were cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, one by Charles and George Mears in 1856, the other five by Mears and Stainbank in 1890. The other two bells were cast by John Taylor and Company in 1907.[10] The parish registers date from 1557.[5]

External features

A pair of 18th-century gate

plinth. A 20th-century wooden circular cross has been set on the shaft.[12] A section of the garden wall of Gawsworth Old Hall, also Grade II listed, separates the churchyard from the grounds of the Hall.[13]

The churchyard contains three war graves, of two British soldiers of World War I and one of World War II.[14]

Associated listed buildings
  • Brick wall with doorway and ornamental urn
    Garden walls at Gawsworth Old Hall
  • A pair of gateposts with carved skulls
    Pair of gatepiers in churchyard of St James
  • A stone cross base and part of the shaft, set on steps and surmounted with modern wooden cross
    Cross base in churchyard of St James

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Historic England, "Church of St James, Gawsworth (1139497)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 14 May 2012
  2. ^ St James, Gawsworth, Church of England, retrieved 1 January 2011
  3. ISBN 0-7134-2776-0
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
  5. ^
    OCLC 719918
  6. ISBN 1-871731-23-2
  7. ISBN 0-907768-18-0
  8. ^ Gawsworth, St James, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (stained glass), retrieved 2 January 2011
  9. ^ Gawsworth St. James, British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 10 August 2008
  10. ^ Gawsworth S James, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 10 August 2007
  11. ^ Historic England, "Gatepiers in churchyard of St James, Gawsworth (1139499)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 14 May 2012
  12. ^ Historic England, "Cross base in churchyard of St James, Gawsworth (1139498)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 14 May 2012
  13. ^ Historic England, "Garden walls at Gawsworth Old Hall (Grade II) (1139501)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 23 November 2021
  14. ^ GAWSWORTH (ST. JAMES) CHURCHYARD, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 25 February 2013

External links

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