St Mary's Church, Astbury
St Mary's Church, Astbury | ||
---|---|---|
Style Gothic | | |
Specifications | ||
Materials | Tower millstone grit Body of the church yellow sandstone with a metal roof | |
Administration | ||
Province | York | |
Diocese | Chester | |
Archdeaconry | Macclesfield | |
Deanery | Congleton | |
Parish | Astbury | |
Clergy | ||
Rector | The Revd Anne-Marie Naylor | |
Laity | ||
Organist(s) | Dr Sally Drage | |
Churchwarden(s) | M Springle, J. Hulse | |
Flower guild | B. Cook | |
Parish administrator | Jayne Eardley, Emma Hall |
St Mary's Church is an
It is possible that a church was present on the site in the
The church has a number of special features. These include its exceptionally wide nave for a village church, and its
History
The origins of the church are unclear. The
Major rebuilding work took place in the later part of the 15th century. It is thought that it began with the south arcade, followed by the north arcade and the addition of a clerestory. The rebuilding was probably complete by about 1525, although the north aisle may not have been completely re-roofed until the early 17th century. The west porch was probably started in the 14th century, and the upper two storeys added in the following century. The nave roof was repaired in 1615.[1] During the English Civil War, while nearby Biddulph Hall was under siege, Sir William Brereton's Roundheads stabled their horses in the church. They damaged the medieval glass windows and removed some of the church furniture, including the organ.[2] There have been few significant changes since that time. The church was restored during the 19th century by Anthony Salvin,[3] and later, in about 1857, by George Gilbert Scott, who removed plaster from the walls and built a small gallery. During the Victorian era, the reredos and most of the stained glass were added.[1]
Architecture
Exterior
The body of the church is constructed in yellow
The tower is in three stages and is supported by buttresses. In the lowest stage, on the west side, is a doorway in Romanesque style, on the north side is an ogee-headed lancet window. On the left of the east side is a Perpendicular-style porch. The middle stage has a two-light window on the west side, above which is a circular clock face, and on the north and east sides are lancet windows. The top stage contains a two-light louvred bell opening on each side. The parapet is plain, and projecting from it on the west side is a gargoyle. The spire is octagonal, with two tiers of lucarnes (dormer windows).[4] The north side of the church is divided by buttresses into four bays. The second bay from the east contains a priest's door, above which is a lancet window. To the right of the door is a small trefoil-headed window. The other bays contain two-light windows with Early English tracery.[1][4] Battlemented parapets run around the walls of the aisle walls and the clerestory. The clerestory has seven bays on either side, each containing a four-light Perpendicular window. At the east end are three windows. The central window, at the end of the chancel, is Perpendicular with seven lights. This is flanked by two aisle windows with plate tracery, the one to the right having four lights, and that to the left five lights.[4]
The southern side of the church has nine bays, again divided by buttresses. In the third bay from the west is a porch. The other bays each contain a two-light window with trefoil heads.[4] The porch is in two storeys, with angle buttresses and a battlemented parapet with gargoyles. The lower storey contains a doorway with a pointed arch, and the upper storey has a two-light window. The doorway and window are set slightly to the west of the centre, as the east wall contains a stairway.[1][4] Inside the porch are stone seats and the remains of two stoups (holy water fonts). The staircase leading to the upper storey is composed of old gravestones. On the outer wall of the upper storey is a sundial.[2] The west end of the church is in Perpendicular style, and has five bays. At its centre is another porch, this one with three storeys. At the west front are diagonal buttresses, and in the bottom storey is a double doorway, over which is a canopied niche containing the weathered image of a saint. In the middle storey is a three-light window, in the top storey a two-light window, and at the summit is a battlemented parapet. There are windows in the north and south faces of the top stage, and on the north side is an octagonal stair turret. Inside the porch are four corbels (supporting brackets) carved with musicians. On each side of the porch is a four-light window. At the west end of the north aisle is a four-light window, and a five-light window is at the end of the south aisle.[1][4]
Interior
The nave and chancel are divided from the aisles by seven-bay arcades, the piers being without capitals. At the top of each pier, facing the nave, is a carved human face. The roofs are divided into panels and contain much carving, including bosses (protrusions), shields, inscriptions and three pendants.[4] The chapel at the west end of the south aisle is known as the Lady Chapel, and that on the north side is dedicated to Saint Mary.[1][4] The church contains more medieval fittings and furniture than any other Cheshire church.[2] Between the nave and the chancel is a screen, and there are parclose screens between the aisles and the chapels.[2] The chancel screen, dated 1500, is elaborately carved with representations of birds, roses, vines and foliage. It has ten bays with lierne vaulting. The chancel stalls and the carved wooden eagle lectern date from around the same period.[2] The lectern is one of the oldest eagle lecterns in the United Kingdom.[7] The stalls have hinged seats, and formerly had misericords (shelves to support a standing person).[4] Much of the furniture dates from the 17th century and is in Jacobean style. This includes the altar rails, the octagonal pulpit, the box pews, the reredos (screen behind the altar) in the Lady Chapel, and the font cover.[1][2] The font itself is Perpendicular.[4] The reredos in the chancel of 1866 was designed by the Manchester architect J. S. Crowther.[1]
The
There are 76 memorials in the church. These include the 14th-century tomb of Ralph Davenport with the recumbent figure of a knight wearing
External features
The churchyard contains 51 gravestones dating from the 17th century.[2] The most important monument is the canopied tomb of a member of the Venables family, which dates from the late 13th century; crocketed pinnacles on the canopy date from the 17th century. Formerly inside the church, the tomb contains two figures, male and female, with their hands clasped in prayer. The only one of its kind in Cheshire,[2] it is listed Grade II*,[11] and is a scheduled monument.[12] There are two further notable memorials in the churchyard, one to the north and the other to the south of the Venables tomb. Both are in yellow sandstone, date from the medieval period, and include weathered recumbent effigies. The one to the north possibly depicts a cleric with his hands in prayer,[13] and the one to the south is a knight in armour with a missing leg.[14] The churchyard also contains a sundial, consisting of two octagonal steps that were originally the base of a 16th-century cross supporting an 18th-century octagonal pillar. In addition to being listed, it is also a scheduled monument.[15][16] The gateway to the churchyard dates from the 17th century, and consists of a yellow sandstone arch with crocketed pinnacles and a battlemented parapet.[17] All of these structures are listed as Grade II. The churchyard contains the war graves of 16 British servicemen, 15 of World War I, and one of World War II.[18] A yew tree in the churchyard is believed to be over 1,000 years old.[19] There is an extension to the burial ground just outside the village on the west side of the A34: 'Astbury Cemetery'. This was in use by 1946.
Assessment
The church was designated on 14 February 1967 by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.
Present day
St Mary's Church stands in an elevated position overlooking the village green on the south side of the village.[23][24][25] It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Congleton.[26] The church holds traditional Anglican services and activities for younger people on Sundays.[27][28] It runs a Prayer Group,[29] a Toddler Group,[30] and groups for other ages of children.[31][32][33] The church publishes a monthly parish magazine.[34]
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire East
- Grade I listed churches in Cheshire
- Listed buildings in Newbold Astbury
- List of church restorations and alterations by Anthony Salvin
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ Gomme, Andor (2007), Church History, Church Lawton, retrieved 15 February 2011)
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Richards 1947, pp. 25–30.
- ^ a b c d e f Hartwell et al. 2011, pp. 111–114.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Historic England, "Church of St Mary, Newbold Astbury (1138740)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 27 March 2012
- ^ Clifton-Taylor 1974, p. 74.
- ^ Salter 1995, p. 18.
- ^ Hutton & Cook 1979, p. 76.
- ^ Astbury, St Mary, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (CVMA) of Great Britain, retrieved 2 January 2011
- ^ Astbury S Mary, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 9 August 2008
- National Pipe Organ Register, British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 30 June 2020
- ^ Historic England, "Canopied tomb of a member of the Venables family in churchyard of St Mary, Newbold Astbury (1161887)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 27 March 2012
- ^ Historic England, "Canopied tomb in St Mary's churchyard (1017059)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 27 March 2012
- ^ Historic England, "Tombstone c. 1 yard to north of the Venables tomb in churchyard of St Mary, Newbold Astbury (1330039)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 27 March 2012
- ^ Historic England, "Tombstone c. 1 yard to south of the Venables tomb in churchyard of St Mary, Newbold Astbury (1309900)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 27 March 2012
- ^ Historic England, "Cross base and shaft in churchyard of St Mary, Newbold Astbury (1138741)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 27 March 2012
- ^ Historic England, "Standing cross in St Mary's churchyard (1020625)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 27 March 2012
- ^ Historic England, "Gateway to churchyard of St Mary, Newbold Astbury (1161875)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 27 March 2012
- ^ ASTBURY (ST. MARY) CHURCHYARD, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 25 February 2013
- ^ Thornber, Craig (2001), A Scrapbook of Cheshire Antiquities: Astbury, retrieved 24 October 2007
- ^ Listed Buildings, English Heritage, retrieved 25 April 2011
- ^ Clifton-Taylor 1974, p. 240.
- ISBN 978-0-141-03930-5.
- ^ Bilsborough 1983, p. 108.
- ^ Morant 1989, p. 96.
- ^ Astbury, Streetmap, retrieved 15 February 2011
- ^ St Mary, Astbury, Church of England, retrieved 14 February 2011
- ^ Our services, St Mary's Church, Astbury, retrieved 17 February 2011
- ^ Junior Church, St Mary's Church, Astbury, retrieved 17 February 2011
- ^ Prayer, St Mary's Church, Astbury, retrieved 17 February 2011
- ^ Toddler Group, St Mary's Church, Astbury, retrieved 17 February 2011
- ^ All Stars, St Mary's Church, Astbury, retrieved 17 February 2011
- ^ Pathfinders, St Mary's Church, Astbury, retrieved 17 February 2011
- ^ Trail Blazers, St Mary's Church, Astbury, retrieved 17 February 2011
- ^ Parish News, St Mary's Church, Astbury, retrieved 17 February 2011
- ^ Inglis, Fred (30 October 2008), "Andor Gomme: Critic and architectural historian", The Independent, Independent.co.uk, retrieved 14 March 2011
Sources
- Bilsborough, Norman (1983), The Treasures of Cheshire, Manchester: The North West Civic Trust, ISBN 0-901347-35-3
- ISBN 0-7134-2776-0
- ISBN 978-0-500-20139-8
- Morant, Roland W. (1989), Cheshire Churches, Birkenhead: Countyvise, ISBN 0-907768-18-0
- Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
- Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, OCLC 719918
- Salter, Mark (1995), The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire, Malvern: Folly Publications, ISBN 1-871731-23-2