St Mary's, Stretton
Encyclopedia
St Mary's is the Church of England
parish church for the village of Stretton
, north of Burton upon Trent
. It is part of the Diocese of Lichfield
.
St Mary's church was
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
parish church for the village of Stretton
Stretton, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire
Stretton is a large village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It is situated on the northern outskirts of Burton upon Trent and is effectively a suburb of that town. The name is Old English and means Street Town and comes it being on the Roman road called Ryknild Street...
, north of Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England. Its associated adjective is "Burtonian"....
. It is part of the Diocese of Lichfield
Diocese of Lichfield
The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers 4,516 km² The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England...
.
St Mary's church was
(...) wholly paid for by John Gretton (d. 1899) of Bladon House in WinshillWinshillWinshill is a suburb to the east of the town of Burton upon Trent, in the borough of East Staffordshire, England.Flanked to the north and east by the South Derbyshire border, historically the parish of Winshill had always been part of Derbyshire until it was transferred to Staffordshire in the late...
, a native of Stretton and a director of the Burton brewers Bass, Ratcliff, and Gretton. (...) dedicated to St. Mary, it was designed by J. T. Micklethwaite of WestminsterWestminsterWestminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
on an aisled, cruciformCruciformCruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
plan with a massive crossing tower. Built externally of Stanton stone and internally of RuncornRuncornRuncorn is an industrial town and cargo port within the borough of Halton in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. In 2009, its population was estimated to be 61,500. The town is on the southern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form Runcorn Gap. Directly to the north...
stone, it has a short chancel, a four-bayed nave, and north and south aisles, each with a porch at the west end. There is a chapel at the east end of the south aisle and two vestries along the north side of the chancel, one of them used in 1999 as a parish office and the other as a meeting room. The nave arcades and chancel arch are chamfered with moulded capitals on polygonal piers, and the nave and chancel ceilings have painted wooden panels. The church retains most of its original decorations and fittings: wooden rood screen and choir stalls carved in a mixed Arts and Crafts- Perpendicular style by J. E. Knox of KenningtonKenningtonKennington is a district of South London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, although part of the area is within the London Borough of Southwark....
; chancel floor inlaid with black and white marble; stone side-chapel arch carved by Robert Bridgeman of LichfieldLichfieldLichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
; octagonal font of FrosterleyFrosterleyFrosterley is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated in Weardale, on the River Wear close to its confluence with Bollihope Burn; between Wolsingham and Stanhope; 18 miles west of Durham City and 26 miles southwest of Newcastle-upon-Tyne....
marble with elaborate wooden canopy, also carved by Knox; stained glass by Sir William Richmond in the east window of the chancel and in the south window of the side chapel; and altar fittings by William Morris. Most of the early 20th-century memorial windows in the aisles come from the Whitefriars studio in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. A bell was taken from the 1838 church for use as a call bell, and a further three bells installed in 1897 were recast as six in 1960.