St Michael's Church, Berechurch facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Michael's Church, Berechurch |
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St Michael's Church, Berechurch, from the southeast
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| OS grid reference | TL 993 219 |
| Location | Berechurch, Essex |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| History | |
| Dedication | Saint Michael |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 24 February 1950 |
| Architect(s) | Charles Pertwee (partial rebuilding) |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic, Gothic Revival |
| Completed | 1878 |
| Closed | 1975 |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Brick with stone banding and dressings Roof tiled |
St Michael's Church is an old Anglican church in the village of Berechurch, Essex, England. It is no longer used for regular church services, which means it is a redundant building. This church is very important historically, so it is listed as a Grade II* building. It is now looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust, a group that helps save historic churches. You can find St Michael's Church south of the town of Colchester.
Contents
History of St Michael's Church
St Michael's was never the main church for the local area. Instead, it was a "chapel of ease" for Holy Trinity Church in Colchester. This means it was a smaller church built to help people who lived far from the main church.
It's possible there was a church here as early as the 1000s. However, the oldest part of the building we see today is the tower, which was built in the 1300s. Most of the rest of the church was rebuilt in the late 1400s. Builders used some of the older materials again.
The Audley Chapel
In the early 1500s, a special chapel was added to the north side of the church. This chapel was finished before 1533. In 1536, a very important person named Thomas Audley was given permission to create a separate church area in Berechurch. Thomas Audley was the Lord Chancellor for King Henry VIII. People think he might have been the one who built this chapel, which is now named the Audley Chapel after him. More work was done on the church in the early 1600s.
Rebuilding and New Uses
In 1872, most of the church was rebuilt by Charles Pertwee. Only the old tower and the Audley Chapel were kept from the earlier building. The south porch was added a few years later in 1878.
After the Second World War, the nearby town of Colchester grew a lot. Many new houses were built in the area around St Michael's. The church became too small for all the people who wanted to attend services. Because of this, a new church, called Saint Margaret's, was built nearby between 1968 and 1972. The church community moved to the new building in 1973. St Michael's Church was then officially declared "redundant" in 1975, meaning it was no longer needed for regular church services. The main part of the church was changed for other uses, but the Audley Chapel was given to the Churches Conservation Trust in 1981 to be preserved.
Architecture and Design
The church is built with brick and has special stone decorations. The roofs are covered with tiles. Around the main part of the church and the chapel, there are decorative stone bands.
Outside the Church
The church has a main area called the nave and a chancel (the part where the altar usually is). It also has the Audley Chapel on the north side, a porch on the south side, and a tower on the west side.
The tower has three levels. It has strong diagonal supports called buttresses and a small stair turret on its southeast corner. The top of the tower has a battlemented parapet, which looks like the top of a castle wall. There is a door and a window on the west side of the tower. The top level has openings for bells on all sides.
The windows in the nave were all added in the 1800s. The large window to the east of the porch is especially big. The east window of the chancel is older, from the early 1600s. It has been moved from the earlier church and features a special stone pattern called Perpendicular-style tracery. The Audley Chapel has a large window from the 1500s with brick tracery. There is also a brick doorway from the 1500s on the west wall of the chapel.
Inside the Church
The nave, chancel, and tower areas have been changed and are now used for things other than church services. However, the Audley Chapel is still preserved.
The Audley Chapel has a special type of roof called a hammerbeam roof. This roof has carvings that include the emblems of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. You can also see heraldic badges on the roof with the Audley family's coat of arms.
The chapel also contains several monuments. The most famous one is for Sir Henry Audley. It was put up in 1648, even before he died! It shows a white marble statue of him lying down in his armor. This statue rests on a black and white chest that has carved figures of his five children. There is also a stone tablet for Robert Audley, who died in 1624. This tablet has "memento mori" designs, which are symbols that remind people about death. There are also other memorials from the 1800s.
External Features
The churchyard, which is the area around the church, contains the war graves of two officers. One was from the army and the other from the Royal Air Force, both from World War I.
See also
