St Michael and All Angels Church, Hawkshead facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Michael and All Angels Church, Hawkshead
St Michael and All Angels Church, Hawkshead, from the northwest
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OS grid reference	SD 352 981
Location	Hawkshead, Cumbria
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Michael, Hawkshead
History
Status	Parish church
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	22 March 1970
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic, Gothic Revival
Specifications
Materials	Stone, slate roofs
Administration
Parish	Hawkshead with Low Wray
Deanery	Windermere
Archdeaconry	Westmorland and Furness
Diocese	Carlisle
Province	York

St Michael and All Angels Church is a beautiful old church in the village of Hawkshead, Cumbria, England. It is an active Anglican church, meaning it is part of the Church of England. This church is a very important building. It is listed as a Grade I building on the National Heritage List for England. This means it is considered to be of exceptional historical or architectural interest. Experts have even called it "one of the best Lake District churches."

History of the Church

A small church, called a chapel, was first built on this spot in the 1100s. Around the year 1300, it was made bigger to be as long as the church you see today. In the 1500s, more parts were added, like the north and south aisles (side sections).

Becoming a Parish Church

In 1578, the church became a full parish church. This was a big step up from being just a chapel. Many people believe this change happened thanks to Edwin Sandys. He was born in Hawkshead and later became a very important church leader, the Archbishop of York.

Changes Over Time

The church continued to change and grow. In 1585, the roof of the main part of the church, called the nave, was made higher. This also created the clerestory, which is a row of windows high up on the walls. Around 1793, a vestry (a room for clergy and church items) and a hearse house (for a funeral carriage) were built.

In the late 1600s, an artist named James Addison was hired to clean the inside walls. He painted 26 Bible verses with pretty borders. He also added borders around the pillars and arches. These paintings were refreshed in the early 1700s by William Mackerath. He even added a list of church leaders and a special message in the local dialect near the pulpit. These paintings were restored again in 1875.

Later in the 1800s, the outside of the church was changed. Old plaster was removed, and decorative parts called battlements and pinnacles were added to the tower. A new entrance porch was built on the south side in 1935. In 1965, a new pipe organ was put in. This allowed a special chapel, dedicated to St James, to be created inside the church.

Church Design and Features

The church is built from rough stone and has a roof made of slate. It has a main area called the nave and a chancel (the part where the altar is). There are also side sections called aisles and chapels. It has a vestry, a south porch, and a tall tower at the west end.

Outside the Church

The tower has a main entrance door on its west side, with a two-part window above it. On the south side of the tower, you can see a small window and a clock. The openings where the bells are located have wooden slats and flat tops. The top edge of the tower has a decorative wall called a parapet with pointed decorations called pinnacles at the corners.

The vestry has windows with three vertical stone bars, called mullions. The north aisle also has similar windows. The north chapel, sometimes called the Sandys chapel, has a three-part window on its east side and a five-part window on its north side. Above its doorway, you can see the coat of arms (a family symbol) of the Sandys family and the date 1578. The high walls of the clerestory each have four windows, each with three parts. The large east window of the chancel has five parts and beautiful stone patterns called tracery. The south aisle has three windows with two or three parts each. The south chapel has a doorway that was changed into a window and a two-part window. Its east window has three parts.

Inside the Church

The inside walls of the church are covered in a thick layer of white paint, called whitewash. The main arches that separate the nave from the aisles are made of five sections. These arches are rounded and rest on round pillars that do not have decorative tops or bases. The old wall paintings are still visible inside.

In the north chapel, there is a special stone tomb from 1578. It belongs to the parents of Archbishop Sandys and has stone statues of them lying down. On the west wall of the church, there are fancy monuments that were moved here in 1878. They came from a church in London that was taken down.

The colorful stained glass in the east window was made in 1894 by a company called Hardman. Other stained glass windows on the south side of the church were made between 1884 and 1901 by H. W. Lonsdale. The church has a large pipe organ with two keyboards, built in 1965 by Rushworth and Dreaper from Liverpool. It replaced an older organ. The church also has a set of eight bells. Five of these bells were made in 1765. One bell from 1810 might have been made by John Stevenson, and the other two were made by John Taylor in 1958.

Outside the Churchyard

In the churchyard, there is a sundial with a metal plate that shows the date 1693. This sundial is also a listed building, meaning it is historically important.

See also

• Grade I listed churches in Cumbria
• Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria
• Listed buildings in Hawkshead