St Peter's Church, Tabley

St Peter's Church, Tabley is a chapel to the west of Tabley House near Knutsford, Cheshire, England (gbmapping|SJ725777). It is a Grade I listed building.cite web |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=58558 |title=Images of England: St Peters Church at Tabley House |accessdate=2007-08-06 |publisher=English Heritage ]

History

The chapel was originally built on an island in the lower mere called The Moat in 1675–78 beside the former Tabley Hall (the Old Hall) by Sir Peter Leycester. The tower was added around 1720.cite book | last =Salter | first =Mark | title =The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire | publisher =Folly Publications | date =1995 | location =Malvern | pages =73 | isbn =1871731232 ] In 1927 the chapel was moved to its present position because its foundations were being undermined by brine-pumping.cite web |url=http://www.tableyhouse.co.uk/house.html |title=Tabley |accessdate=2007-08-06 |publisher= Tabley House]

tructure

The chapel is joined to the house by a passage.cite book | last =Richards | first =Raymond | title =Old Cheshire Churches | publisher =Batsford | date =1947 | location =London | pages =259–263] It is built in brick with stone dressings and has a stone slate roof. The plan consists of a west tower and a three-bay nave with an ante-chapel over which is a gallery. The tower is in three stages. The lowest stage has a two-light window above which is a parapet with stone balusters and ball finials. The next stage is recessed and has a diagonal clock faces on three sides. The belfry stage above this has two-light louvred openings with stone surrounds. At the top is another parapet with stone balusters and ball finials.

Fittings and furniture

The ceiling is coved. The interior of the chapel is panelled and the stalls are arranged down the sides. The pulpit is octagonal and it has a sounding board and an ancient hourglass. The reredos was painted by Lady Leighton and carved by Countess Bathurst, one of her aunts. One of the windows contains Flemish 17th century stained glass, and another window dated 1895 was designed by Edward Burne-Jones and made by Morris & Co. In the ante-chapel is a war memorial to the tenants who died in the First World War which is made from panelling from the Old Hall. The organ was made in 1876 by Bryceson Bros & Morten of London. [cite web |url= http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D04194 |title= Tabley House Chapel |accessdate=2008-08-11 |publisher= British Institute of Organ Studies ] The communion plate is dated 1678. The registers date from 1678 and contain records of the baptisms and weddings of the Leicester family and their tenants.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.thornber.net/cheshire/htmlfiles/tabley.html Photographs of the house and chapel by Craig Thornber]
* [http://merlin.cch.kcl.ac.uk:8080/cvma/servlet/site?countyCode=CH&place=Tabley&site=%20Tabley%20House%20(University%20of%20Manchester,%20Tabley%20House%20Collection)&LocationID=564&-querytype=2&county=Cheshire Pictures of stained glass in the house and chapel]