St Mary's Church, Cheadle facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Mary's Church, Cheadle
St Mary's Church, Cheadle, from the southeast
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OS grid reference	SJ 856 887
Location	High Street, Cheadle, Greater Manchester
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Conservative Evangelical
Website	St Mary's, Cheadle
History
Status	Parish church
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	24 March 1950
Architectural type	Church
Style	Perpendicular
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone, slate roof
Administration
Parish	Cheadle
Deanery	Cheadle
Archdeaconry	Macclesfield
Diocese	Chester
Province	York

St Mary's Church in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England, is a very old and important building. It is a Grade I listed building, which means it's protected because of its special history and architecture. This church is part of the Church of England and serves the local community as a parish church.

A Look Back in Time: Church History

A church has stood on this spot since at least the year 1200. The building you see today was mostly constructed between 1520 and 1550. Imagine, that's almost 500 years ago!

• The south chapel was finished in 1530.
• The main part of the church, called the nave, was built by 1541.
• The tall tower was added between 1520 and 1540.
• The chancel, which is the area around the altar, was built a bit later, from 1556 to 1558. Lady Katheryn Bulkeley, a former abbess, helped with this part.

The church has been repaired and updated many times over the centuries. For example, the south porch was repaired in 1634. Big restoration projects happened between 1859 and 1862, and again from 1878 to 1880. In the 1900s, a cloakroom was added for visitors.

Church Design: Architecture

Outside the Church

St Mary's Church is built from grey sandstone. Its design is in the Perpendicular style, which was popular for churches a long time ago.

• The church has a tower in the middle at the west end.
• There's a main hall (the nave) with windows high up, called a clerestory.
• It also has a south porch and side sections called north and south aisles.
• At the end of each aisle is a special chapel.
• The chancel is wider than the nave, and there's a room called a vestry next to it.

The tower has three levels and strong corner supports called buttresses. It has a clock and openings for bells. The top of the tower has a castellated edge, like a castle, with decorative gargoyles. The roof edges of the nave are also castellated. The porch has fancy supports ending in pointed decorations called pinnacles. Its doorway is in the Tudor pattern with carved designs.

Inside the Church

The roof inside the church is made of strong wooden beams with beautiful gilded decorations. The screen separating the chancel from the nave includes parts from an even older screen.

• The choir stalls, where the choir sits, were made in the 1800s. They are carved with detailed scenes and poppyheads.
• The sedilia (seats for clergy) dates from 1862.
• The pulpit (where sermons are given) is from the 1870s.
• Both chapels have carved screens. The lower parts of these screens are very old, from the 1400s and 1500s.
• The baptismal font, used for baptisms, was made in 1837 by George Smith.

An interesting discovery was made near the church in 1874: an 11th-century stone cross! It's now on display inside the church.

The chapel at the east end of the north aisle is called the Savage Chapel. It was built in 1529 by Sir John Savage and his wife Elizabeth. The Brereton Chapel is at the east end of the south aisle. It holds three statues, including one of Sir Thomas Brereton from 1673.

The church also has old brass plaques from the 1600s and 1700s. There's a special window from 1917 with a small piece of very old glass. Other windows were designed by different artists in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The organ was built in 1881. The church has a set of eight bells. Six of them are from 1749, and the other two are from 1882. The church records, called parish registers, go all the way back to 1558!

Outside the Church Grounds

In the churchyard, you can find several historic items:

• The base of a medieval cross, which has been turned into a sundial.
• The base of another cross from the 1300s or 1400s, which was restored in 1873 to be a memorial.
• An 18th-century chest tomb belonging to the Crosier family.

These are all also protected as Grade II listed structures. The lych gate, a covered entrance to the churchyard, was built in 1883 and is also Grade II listed. The churchyard also contains the graves of three soldiers who died in World War I.

The Church Today

On March 24, 1950, St Mary's Church was officially recognized as a Grade I listed building because of its great historical importance.

St Mary's Church follows a specific tradition within the Church of England. It has made decisions that mean it does not support the ordination of women as priests.

Important People from the Church

Several important church leaders have served at St Mary's Church:

• Donald Allister, who later became a bishop, was the Rector here from 1989 to 2002.
• Leonard Ashton, who became a chaplain in the Royal Air Force and later a bishop, started his church training here.
• Colin Buchanan, who became a principal of a college and a bishop, also did his church training here.
• Wallace Benn, who later became a bishop, also served his church training here.
• Rob Munro, who became the Bishop of Ebbsfleet in 2022, worked at St Mary's for almost 20 years, from 2003 to 2023.

See also

• Grade I listed churches in Greater Manchester
• Listed buildings in Cheadle and Gatley
• List of churches in Greater Manchester