St Mary's Church, Weaverham
Encyclopedia
St Mary's Church, Weaverham is in the village of Weaverham
, Cheshire
, England. The church has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican
parish church
in the Diocese of Chester
, the archdeaconry of Chester
and the deanery
of Middlewich
.
. Edward I
gave the advowson
of the vicarage to Vale Royal Abbey
. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries
, this was given by Henry VIII
to the Bishop of Chester
. The west tower dates from the middle of the 15th century and the rest of the church from the 16th century. Restoration
s were carried out in 1855 by Anthony Salvin
, and in 1877 by John Douglas
, when the porch and vestry were added.
ashlar
with a Welsh slate
roof. The plan of the church consists of a tower at the west end leading to a five-bay
nave
and chancel
with no architectural division, and north and south aisle
s terminating in chapels. The church is wider at its west end than at the east end. The chapel at the east end of the south aisle is the Wilbraham (formerly Grange) chapel and that at the east end of the north aisle is the Heath (formerly Crowton) Chapel.
. The octagonal font
stands on a plain column and has an ornate Jacobean
wooden cover. The chancel panelling has linenfold
carving. The altar table is by Chippendale
and has cabriole leg
s and claw feet. The altar rails, originally in the church, were moved to become the back staircase of Hefferston Grange
, but have now been restored in the church. The parish chest is early Georgian
. The sanctuary chairs come from the William and Mary
period. The sidesmen
's pew re-used wood from the previous three-decker pulpit
which was dated 1774. In the church is a stained glass window presented by John Douglas
to commemorate his parents and his sisters. The two-manual
organ was made by Walker in 1951. The ring
consists of six bells. Two bells dated 1718 are by Abraham Rudhall II
, two dated 1796 are by Thomas & James Bilbie
and the other two dated 1875 are by Mears & Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
. The parish register
s begin in 1576 and the churchwarden
s' accounts in 1630.
Weaverham
right|thumb|200px|Map of civil parish of Weaverham within former borough of Vale RoyalWeaverham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. Just off the A49, it is just to the west of Northwich and south of the River...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England. The church has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the Diocese of Chester
Diocese of Chester
The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York based in Chester, covering the county of Cheshire in its pre-1974 boundaries...
, the archdeaconry of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
and the deanery
Deanery
A Deanery is an ecclesiastical entity in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of a Dean.- Catholic usage :...
of Middlewich
Middlewich
Middlewich is a market town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is east of the city of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach....
.
History
A church was present on the site at the time of the Norman conquestNorman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
. Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
gave the advowson
Advowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
of the vicarage to Vale Royal Abbey
Vale Royal Abbey
Vale Royal Abbey is a medieval abbey, and later country house, located in Whitegate, between Northwich and Winsford in Cheshire, England.The abbey was founded in 1270 by Edward I for monks of the austere Cistercian order...
. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, this was given by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
to the Bishop of Chester
Bishop of Chester
The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York.The diocese expands across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the City of Chester where the seat is located at the Cathedral...
. The west tower dates from the middle of the 15th century and the rest of the church from the 16th century. Restoration
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
s were carried out in 1855 by Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations...
, and in 1877 by John Douglas
John Douglas (architect)
John Douglas was an English architect who designed about 500 buildings in Cheshire, North Wales, and northwest England, in particular in the estate of Eaton Hall. He was trained in Lancaster and practised throughout his career from an office in Chester, Cheshire...
, when the porch and vestry were added.
Exterior
The church is built in red sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
with a Welsh slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roof. The plan of the church consists of a tower at the west end leading to a five-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
with no architectural division, and north and south aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
s terminating in chapels. The church is wider at its west end than at the east end. The chapel at the east end of the south aisle is the Wilbraham (formerly Grange) chapel and that at the east end of the north aisle is the Heath (formerly Crowton) Chapel.
Interior
Both chapels contain memorials to local families, and both chapels have screens dated 1636. In the chancel is an 18th-century chandelierChandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
. The octagonal font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
stands on a plain column and has an ornate Jacobean
Jacobean era
The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of King James VI of Scotland, who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I...
wooden cover. The chancel panelling has linenfold
Linenfold
Linenfold is a simple style of relief carving used to decorate wood panelling with a design "imitating window tracery", "imitating folded linen" or "stiffly imitating folded material". Originally from Flanders, the style became widespread across Northern Europe in the 14th to 16th centuries...
carving. The altar table is by Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale was a London cabinet-maker and furniture designer in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs, titled The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director...
and has cabriole leg
Cabriole leg
A cabriole leg is one of four vertical supports of a piece of furniture shaped in two curves; the upper arc is convex, while lower is concave; the upper curve always bows outward, while the lower curve bows inward. The axes of the two curves must lie within the same plane...
s and claw feet. The altar rails, originally in the church, were moved to become the back staircase of Hefferston Grange
Hefferston Grange
Hefferston Grange is a former country house to the southwest of the village of Weaverham, Cheshire, England.-History:The house was built in 1741 for Philip Henry Warburton, incorporating parts of an earlier house dating from about 1700. It was enlarged in Neoclassical style for Nicholas Ashton in...
, but have now been restored in the church. The parish chest is early Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
. The sanctuary chairs come from the William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
period. The sidesmen
Sidesperson
A sidesperson, correctly known as a sidesman or usher, in the Anglican Church is responsible for greeting members of the congregation, overseeing seating arrangements in church, and for taking the collection...
's pew re-used wood from the previous three-decker pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
which was dated 1774. In the church is a stained glass window presented by John Douglas
John Douglas (architect)
John Douglas was an English architect who designed about 500 buildings in Cheshire, North Wales, and northwest England, in particular in the estate of Eaton Hall. He was trained in Lancaster and practised throughout his career from an office in Chester, Cheshire...
to commemorate his parents and his sisters. The two-manual
Manual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
organ was made by Walker in 1951. The ring
Ring of bells
"Ring of bells" is a term most often applied to a set of bells hung in the English style, typically for change ringing...
consists of six bells. Two bells dated 1718 are by Abraham Rudhall II
Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 produced over 5,000 bells. The business was founded by Abraham Rudhall and the earliest ring of bells he cast was for St Nicholas' Church, Oddington in 1684. He came to be...
, two dated 1796 are by Thomas & James Bilbie
Bilbie family
The Bilbie family were bell founders and clockmakers based initially in Chew Stoke, Somerset and later at Cullompton, Devon in south-west England from the late 17th century to the early 19th century....
and the other two dated 1875 are by Mears & Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
. The parish register
Parish register
A parish register is a handwritten volume, normally kept in a parish church or deposited within a county record office or alternative archive repository, in which details of baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded.-History:...
s begin in 1576 and the churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
s' accounts in 1630.
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in CheshireGrade I listed buildings in CheshireThe Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire, excluding those in the city of Chester, total around 80, almost half of which are churches.Most Cheshire buildings are in sandstone, brick or are timber framed. The churches are mainly built in stone, while the domestic buildings are mainly in brick. ...
- List of church restorations, amendments and furniture by John Douglas