St Lawrence's Church, Stoak facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Lawrence's Church, Stoak |
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St Lawrence's Church, Stoak, from the southwest
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| OS grid reference | SJ 423 734 |
| Location | Stoak, Cheshire |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Churchmanship | Open evangelical |
| History | |
| Status | Team ministry |
| Dedication | Saint Lawrence |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 1 June 1967 |
| Architect(s) | George Edgecombe |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Red sandstone, slate roofs |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Ellesmere Port Team |
| Deanery | Wirral South |
| Archdeaconry | Chester |
| Diocese | Chester |
| Province | York |
St Lawrence's Church is a historic church located in the village of Stoak, Cheshire, England. Stoak is found near where the M56 and M53 motorways meet, close to the Shropshire Union Canal. This church is very important, so it's listed as a Grade II* building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it's a very special building that needs to be protected. It is an active Anglican parish church, part of the diocese of Chester.
Contents
History of St Lawrence's Church
A very old Saxon chapel was first built on this spot. Even though it wasn't mentioned in the Domesday Book, old pieces of architecture found later show that a new church was built soon after the Norman conquest.
Writers from the 14th century described the church as a "sumptuous fabric of stone and wood." It was large and had four bells, but it was starting to fall apart. The church you see today was mostly rebuilt in 1827 by George Edgecombe. Not much of the very old church remains from before this time. The church was also repaired and updated again between 1911 and 1912.
Architecture of the Church
Outside the Church
The church has a cross-shaped design. It has a tower on the west side, a main area called the nave, and two side sections called north and south transepts. It also has a chancel, which is the part of the church where the altar is.
The tower was built in 1827 and looks like towers from the 15th century. During the 1827 rebuilding, most of the north wall was kept as it was. The tower has strong corner supports called buttresses and a battlemented top, which looks like the top of a castle wall. On the west side of the tower, there's a door set back into the wall. Above the door is a window with two sections, and even higher up, there's a clock shaped like a diamond. This clock only has one hand!
Inside the Church
The main roof of the nave is a Tudor hammerbeam roof. This type of roof has decorative wooden beams that look like hammers. This roof was also mostly kept the same during the 1827 changes.
Inside the church, you can find many interesting old items. There's a large oak chest from 1686, which was used by the parish. You can also see some old pews (church benches), a Jacobean altar table, and a Georgian pulpit (where the sermon is given). In the chancel, there are three old chairs, two of which date back to the time of King Charles II.
The west gallery, which is an upper floor inside the church, includes parts of the original rood screen. A rood screen was a decorative screen that separated the nave from the chancel. There are also memorials, including a marble wall monument for Henry Bunbury from 1732. You can also see 13 memorial boards, likely made by members of the Randle Holme family from Chester. These boards date from 1627 to 1702 and mostly remember members of the Bunbury family.
The church has the oldest bells in the Wirral area, dating from 1615, 1631, and 1642. The church's official records, called parish registers, are almost complete from 1543. The records of the churchwardens (people who look after the church) go back to 1677, though there are some gaps.
Outside the Church Grounds
In the churchyard, there is a red sandstone sundial. It probably dates from the 17th century and is also a listed building (Grade II). It has an eight-sided pillar on an eight-sided base. The remains of a brass sundial are cemented on its top.
The churchyard is also home to the grave of nine-year-old Nelson Burt. He was the son of Albin R. Burt and sadly drowned during the Mersey hurricane of 1822. The churchyard also has war graves for one soldier from World War I and two airmen from World War II.
See also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire West and Chester
- Listed buildings in Stoak
