St Michael and All Angels, Middlewich

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St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich
Middlewich - St Michaels2.jpg
St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich,
from the southeast
St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich is located in Cheshire
St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich
St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich
Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°11′33″N 2°26′41″W / 53.1926°N 2.4446°W / 53.1926; -2.4446
OS grid referenceSJ 703 662
LocationMiddlewich, Cheshire
CountryEngland
DenominationAnglican
WebsiteSt Michael and All Angels, Middlewich
History
StatusParish church
DedicationSt Michael and All Angels
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationGrade II*
Designated5 December 1986
Architectural typeChurch
StyleNorman, Perpendicular
Specifications
MaterialsRed sandstone
Administration
DeaneryMiddlewich
ArchdeaconryChester
DioceseChester
ProvinceYork
Clergy
RectorRev Simon Drew
Curate(s)Rev Liz Woode, Rev Thia Hughes, Rev Lorraine Reed
Laity
Reader(s)Jacqui Briscoe, Steve Broadfoot, Christine Hamill-Stewart, Tony Woode
Director of musicJeremy Coles
Churchwarden(s)Elaine Reynolds, Graham Ikin, Keith Yearley
Parish administratorBeth Deakin

St. Michael and All Angels is the parish church for the town of Middlewich in Cheshire, England. It stands at the junction of the A54 and A533 roads.[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.[2] It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Middlewich. Its benefice is combined with that of St John, Byley.[3] In 1947 the architectural historian Raymond Richards described the church as "the one building, in a depressing town, which is mellow and dignified".[4]

History[]

Parts of the church date from the 12th century, possibly the lower portion of the tower, but more likely the narrow arcade of the east bay.[5][6] Most of the church was built during the period between about 1480 and 1520[7] when the nave clerestory was added, new windows were inserted, the Lady chapel was built at the east end of the south aisle and a two-storey porch was added to the south side. In the following century the Kinderton chapel was added at the east end of the north aisle.[4] The church was damaged during the Civil War, particularly during the First Battle of Middlewich in March 1643, when the Royalists used it as a place of sanctuary.[4] In 1801 restorations were carried out, including moving the Venables screen into the tower. In 1857 a window was added to the memory of John Hulse.[5] In 1857–60 the north aisle and Kinderton chapel were remodelled by Joseph Clarke.[7] This was a part of a general remodelling of the church, which included removing the whitewash from the interior of the church to reveal the sandstone appearance seen today.[8]

Architecture[]

Exterior[]

The church is built of sandstone and is mainly Perpendicular in style.[4] The plan of the church consists of a tower at the northwest, a four-bay nave with a clerestory, broad north and south aisles, a two-bay chancel and a south porch. At the east end of the north aisle is the Kinderton chapel, built in the 16th century, and at the east end of the south aisle is a chapel which was formerly a Lady chapel.[7]

Interior[]

The timber roof of the chancel was originally built by Sir William Brereton in 1621. This was replaced in 1951 with a design copying the original.[8] The Kinderton Chapel (also known as the Bostock Chapel) is now used as the rector's vestry, and it contains the oldest monument in the church, a brass dated 1591 in memory of Elizabeth Venables, wife of Baron Kinderton. A Jacobean screen with the carved arms of the Venables family was originally at the entrance to the Kinderton chapel but is now inside the tower.[8] The organ was built in 1908 by Conacher and radically rebuilt in 1964 by Rushworth and Dreaper.[9] There is a ring of eight bells. Three of these were cast in 1711 by Rudhall of Gloucester, one bell was cast in 1841 by Thomas Mears II at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, and the other four are dated 1897 by John Taylor and Company.[10] The parish registers begin in 1604 and the churchwardens' accounts in 1636.[4]

External features[]

In the churchyard is a sundial probably dating from the late 18th century. It consists of a vase baluster on a circular stone step on brick base. The copper dial has a date which is illegible and the gnomon is broken. It is designated as a Grade II listed building.[11]

Priests and Vicars of Middlewich[]

Priests
~1200 Warin   1342 John de Leysthorp   1429 Thomas Thikenes
~1250 Thomas   1349 John Bele   1459 John Heynes
1306 Richard Tuchet   1352 John Folvill   1484 John Bressnel
1329 John de Offord   1361 Thomas Fraunceys   1494 William Sutheworthe
1330 Andrew de Offord   1402 John Tochet
Vicars
1504 William Bithewaithe   1695 William Handford   1877 Francis Minton
1504 John Fornebye   1702 John Cowper   1902 Hesketh France Hayhurst
1525 Amerus Burdet   1719 John Cartwright   1904 Arthur Gascoigne Child
1563 John Knightley   1731 John Swinton   1921 Wilfrid Rawton Ingham
1568 Peter Presland   1737 Robert Moreton   1937 Albert William Harrison-Harlow MC
1580 William Kinsey   1780 William Kyffin   1947 George Richardson Kemp
1616 Robert Halliley   1787 Joshua Powell   1952 Leslie Edgar Evans
1646 Thomas Langley*   1797 William Henry Heron   1957 Laurence Roy Ridley
1647 Matthew Clayton*   1811 James Stringer   1969 Eric Alexander Owen
1662 Lawrence Griffith   1819 Isaac Wood   1971 Eric William Cox[12]
1680 Thomas Faulkner   1864 Henry Goodwin  

*denotes joint ministers

Gallery[]

  • The main altar

  • The Venables screen

  • Interior of the church

  • Closeup view of the South Altar

  • Distant view of the South Altar

  • Detail of carving on one of the pillars

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Middlewich, Streetmap, retrieved 17 January 2011
  2. ^ Historic England, "Church of St Michael and All Angels, Middlewich (1138795)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 5 August 2012
  3. ^ St Michael & All Angels, Middlewich, Church of England, retrieved 17 January 2011
  4. ^ a b c d e Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: B. T Batsford, pp. 234–237
  5. ^ a b Charles Frederick Lawrence (1895), History of Middlewich, Eachus and Son, Sandbach
  6. ^ St. Michael and All Angels, Middlewich, The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, archived from the original on 28 July 2012, retrieved 13 June 2010
  7. ^ a b c Salter, Mark (1995), The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire, Malvern: Folly Publications, p. 52, ISBN 1-871731-23-2
  8. ^ a b c About the Church, St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich, archived from the original on 8 December 2004, retrieved 3 October 2007
  9. ^ "NPOR [N04308]", National Pipe Organ Register, British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 1 July 2020
  10. ^ Middlewich S Michael, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 11 August 2008
  11. ^ Historic England, "Sundial south of west bay of Church of St Michael and All Angels, Middlewich (1229502)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 5 August 2012
  12. ^ Richards, Raymond (1971), Old Cheshire Churches: A Survey of their History, Fabric and Furniture with Records of the Older Monuments

External links[]

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