St Michael and All Angels Church, Little Leigh facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Michael and All Angels Church, Little Leigh
St Michael and All Angels Church, Little Leigh, from the south
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OS grid reference	SJ 615 759
Location	Little Leigh, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Parish of Aston-by-Sutton, Little Leigh & Lower Whitley
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	St Michael
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	18 July 1986
Architect(s)	Edmund Kirby
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1879
Specifications
Materials	Brick with terracotta dressings Welsh slate roof with an orange tile ridge
Administration
Parish	Little Leigh
Deanery	Great Budworth
Archdeaconry	Chester
Diocese	Chester
Province	York

St Michael and All Angels Church is a beautiful church located in the village of Little Leigh, Cheshire, England. It's an active church for the Anglican faith, which is a type of Christian church. This church is considered a special historical building, listed as Grade II, meaning it's important to protect. It's one of three churches that work together in the area, along with St Peter's in Aston-by-Sutton and St Luke's in Lower Whitley. Before May 31, 2013, these churches were separate but worked closely together.

The Church's Story

Long ago, Little Leigh had a small church building called a "chapel of ease." This was a smaller church that helped people attend services without traveling far. In 1712, this old chapel was completely rebuilt. People at the time described it as a "mean building of brick," meaning it was quite simple.

Part of the old chapel was even used as the village school until a new school building was finished in 1840. The spot where this old chapel stood is now part of the churchyard. The church you see today was built in 1879. It was designed by a famous architect named Edmund Kirby.

What the Church Looks Like

Outside the Church

The church is built with bright orange bricks and decorated with terracotta, which is a type of baked clay. The roof is made of dark grey slate tiles from Wales, with a line of orange tiles along the top.

The church has a main long part called a nave, with smaller sections sticking out on the sides called transepts. There's also a chancel at the end, a porch on the south side, and a tall, thin spire where the different parts of the church meet. The building style is Gothic, which means it looks like churches from the Middle Ages.

Along the sides of the nave, there are strong supports called buttresses and flat, triangular-shaped columns. Between these supports, you'll see pairs of tall, narrow windows called lancet windows. The spire is a large, pointed tower called a flèche. It has wooden openings for bells on each side. Above these are small windows called lucarnes, a lead decoration at the very top, and a weathercock that shows wind direction.

Inside the Church

The inside of St Michael and All Angels Church is also made entirely of brick and terracotta. In the chancel, which is the part of the church near the altar, there's a special bench with three seats called a sedilia. Above each seat, there's a lancet window.

The reredos, which is a decorated screen behind the altar, was created by Jabez Thompson. It shows a scene of the Last Supper made from terracotta. You can also see beautiful stained glass windows, including one from the mid-1900s by an artist named Trena Cox. Experts who wrote the Buildings of England books think the large window at the east end of the church is very impressive.

Other Features Around the Church

Near the church, there's a special gate called a lychgate, which was built in 1882. It's also a Grade II listed building. It's made of open wooden beams and has a sloped roof covered with slate tiles from the Lake District. In the churchyard, there are two war graves from World War II, one for a soldier and one for an airman.

See also

• Listed buildings in Little Leigh
• List of works by Edmund Kirby