All Saints Church, Marple facts for kids

Quick facts for kids All Saints Church, Marple
All Saints Church, Marple
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OS grid reference	SJ 962 878
Location	Church Lane, Marple, Greater Manchester
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	All Saints, Marple
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	All Saints
Consecrated	30 June 1880
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	11 October 1985
Architect(s)	J. Medland Taylor and Henry Taylor
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1880
Construction cost	£6,056
Specifications
Materials	Stone, tiled roof
Administration
Parish	Marple, All Saints
Deanery	Chadkirk
Archdeaconry	Macclesfield
Diocese	Chester
Province	York

All Saints Church is a beautiful church located in Marple, Greater Manchester, England. It's a special building because it's listed as a Grade II building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it's an important historical place that needs to be protected.

Right next to the church, you'll find the old tower from an even older church. This tower is also a Grade II listed building! All Saints Church is still an active Anglican church, which means it's part of the Church of England. It serves the local community in the diocese of Chester.

History of All Saints Church

The very first church on this spot was a small building made of wood. It was built in the late 1500s. The first church service we know about happened in 1588.

By 1803, the old wooden church was falling apart. So, people decided to build a new one. Robert Goldsmith was chosen as the architect in 1808. The new church was finished in 1811 and cost about £4,000, which was a huge amount of money back then! A local cotton maker named Samuel Oldknow gave a lot of money to help build it.

In 1816, a set of bells arrived for the church. Then, in 1826, an organ was put in.

However, by the 1870s, the church was too small for everyone who wanted to attend. It also couldn't be made bigger easily. So, once again, the community decided to build a brand new church. This new church was built about 30 meters (about 100 feet) south of the old one.

J. Medland Taylor and Henry Taylor were the architects for this new church. It cost £6,056 and was finished in 1880. It was officially opened and blessed on June 30, 1880.

For a while, some services were still held in the old church. But its condition got worse. By 1964, it was considered unsafe and was torn down, except for its tower. The old tower was made stronger, and the bells were moved into it. Now, it stands alone as a bell tower!

Architecture of the Church Buildings

The Old Tower

The old tower stands by itself and has four main sections, with stone bands separating each part. On the west side, there's a door with a rough stone frame and a window with two lights.

In the third section of the tower, you can see a clock face. Above that are tall, narrow openings where the bells ring out. The top of the tower has a flat wall with simple pillars and square pointy decorations.

Inside the tower, you'll find special plaques and statues called memorials. One of the most famous is by John Flaxman. It remembers Reverend Kelsall Prescot, who passed away in 1823. It shows him teaching young boys.

Another memorial is for Samuel Oldknow, who died in 1828. It was made by Francis Legatt Chantrey. There's also a memorial for Elizabeth Isherwood, who died in 1835, showing a woman kneeling by a decorative pot. Other memorials include one for Nathaniel Wright, who died in 1818, showing a small angel with a put-out torch. Another is for John Clayton, who died in 1848, showing a standing woman with a lamp and a torch.

The tower has a set of eight bells that can be rung together. Six of these bells came from Stockport parish church in 1816 and were made in 1731. The other two bells were made by John Taylor and Company in 1963.

The Main Church Building

The main church building is made of stone and has a roof with patterned tiles. It has a main area called a nave with three sections. Above the nave, there's a clerestory, which is a row of windows that let in light. On either side of the nave are side sections called aisles. At the east end, there's a two-section chancel, which is the part of the church where the altar is.

At the very east end of the church, there's a large window with five lights. At the west end, you'll see a beautiful round window called a rose window.

Inside the church, you'll find a fancy light fixture (chandelier) and a special basin for baptisms (font). These were moved from the old church. There are also memorials dedicated to the Bradshaw-Isherwood family. The organ in the church was built by Conacher and Wadsworth and later made bigger by Walker in 1972. The church's official records, called parish registers, go all the way back to 1655!

External Features Around the Church

Outside the church, there are several interesting historical features.

The lych gate, which is a covered gateway at the entrance to the churchyard, was built in 1893 and is also a Grade II listed building.

You can also see a stable and a coach house nearby. These buildings are from the early 1800s. They were built for the owner of Marple Hall to use when they visited the church. Next to them is a hearse house, also from the early 1800s, where a hearse (a vehicle for funerals) would have been kept. These are also Grade II listed.

The churchyard is also the resting place for soldiers who died in wars. It contains the war graves of nine soldiers from World War I and two soldiers and two airmen from World War II.

Gallery

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  The stables (left) and the coach house (right) with the tower of the old church in the background

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  The tower of the old church with the coach house in the foreground

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  The gate to the old church

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  The lych gate to All Saints' Church from Church Lane

See also

• List of churches in Greater Manchester
• Listed buildings in Marple, Greater Manchester