- St Mary's Church, Sandbach
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St Mary's Church, Sandbach 
St Mary's Church, Sandbach, from the southLocation in Cheshire
St Mary's Church, SandbachCoordinates: 53°08′37″N 2°21′40″W / 53.1436°N 2.3610°W OS grid reference SJ 759 608 Location Sandbach, Cheshire Country England Denomination Anglican Churchmanship Central Website St Mary's Sandbach Architecture Status Parish church Functional status Active Heritage designation Grade II* Designated 11 August 1950 Architect(s) Sir George Gilbert Scott
Austin and PaleyArchitectural type Church Style Gothic Revival Completed 1930 Specifications Materials Red sandstone Administration Parish Sandbach Deanery Congleton Archdeaconry Macclesfield Diocese Chester Province York Clergy Vicar(s) Revd. Thomas Shepherd Laity Churchwarden(s) Reg Dunning, Martyn Colley Flower guild Sheenagh Ashworth Parish administrator Sylvia Watkins St Mary's Church, Sandbach is in the town of Sandbach, Cheshire, England. The church has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[1] It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Congleton.[2]
Contents
History
The Domesday Book records the presence of a priest and a church on the site of the present church. This was replaced by another church erected about the time of Henry VII. This church was built in sandstone which became badly weathered. The present church dates largely from the considerable degree of rebuilding by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1847–49. Much of the existing fabric was replaced and the remaining fabric was encased in new stone. The east end of the church was extended by some 40 feet (12 m) and the tower was rebuilt as a copy of the former tower.[3] The Style is Perpendicular.[4] The builders were Cooper and Son of Derby. The stone, which came from quarries in the Mow Cop area, was given by Sir Philip Grey Egerton M.P.[5] Part of the west end had to be repaired in 1894–95 following a fire. A choir vestry by Austin and Paley was added in 1930.[1]
The parish registers date from 1562 and are complete. The churchwardens' accounts prior to 1888 are lost.[3]
Architecture
Exterior
The plan of the church consists of a clerestoried nave and a choir of five bays, with aisles, side chapels, and a tower at the west end. The choir vestry projects from the northwest. The tower is unusual in that it stands on three open arches through which passes a public footpath. The style is mainly Perpendicular and some medieval masonry is still present in the arcades.[1]
Interior
The font dates from 1859; it is made of Caen stone and was constructed by Thomas Stringer.[1] It has a Greek Palindrome inscription, that reads "NIYON ANOMHMA MH MONAN OYINE". This translated means "Wash my sin not my countenance only".[4] An older octagonal font dated 1669 and decorated with acanthus leaves is used as a flower bowl.[3] Scott arranged the memorials around the walls of the aisles. One of these is a marble relief to the memory of Rev. John Armistead, who was vicar from 1828 to 1865. It was designed by G. F. Watts and sculpted by George Nelson in 1876.[1] Another is to John Ford, who died in 1839, which includes a life-size allegorical female figure by an altar. The roofs are dated 1661. The roof over the north aisle includes a large coat of arms in a wreath. In the chapels and chancels is stained glass by William Wailes, and in the north aisle is a window by Kempe.[6]
Bells
The ring is of eight bells. Four of the bells were cast by Rudhall of Gloucester in 1719. The founder of a bell dated 1782 is unknown. Four later bells by John Warner and Sons are dated 1857, 1858 and 1868.[7]
External features
The churchyard walls, gateways and railings to south-east and north of the church are listed Grade II.[8]
Rectors and Vicars
Rectors c.1100 - 1256
- before 1128 Steinulf the Priest
- before 1153 Roger de Lech
- c.1230 Thomas
Victors c.1300 - 1887
St Mary's Church, Sandbach. Before restoration. Engraving. Circa 1800
St Mary's Church, Sandbach. From a postcard. Circa 1900- Before 1327 Richard Burgillion (d.1327)
- 7 Apr 1327 Philip de Goodrich Castle (de Castro Godrici)
- 15 Jan 1344 William de Mere
- 23 Jun 1348 Thomas Chaumpain
- 7 Sep 1349 William de Upton (alias Welton)
- 15 Oct 1349 John de Tydrynton
- 7 Mar 1371 Randle del Ford
- 18 Oct 1401 Thomas de Hassall
- 21 Sep 1418 Thomas Hassall
- 7 May 1455 James Whiteacres
- Sep 1465 Randle Penketh
- 7 Mar 1481 Roger Clifton
- c.1517 Hugh Brereton
- 15 Sep 1535 Thomas Smyth
- 27 Sep 1548 Richard Smyth
- 19 May 1554 Peter Prestland
- 23 May 1576 John Shaw
- 1616 Laurence Wood
- 16 Nov 1630 Thomas Tudman
- c.1648 Joseph Cope
- c.1662 Thomas Tudman
- 15 May 1674 William Hayes
- 19 Mar 1695[6] Thomas Welles, M.A.
- 13 May 1729 Hugh Mee, M.A.
- 13 Apr 1733 Samuel Allon, B.A.
- 25 Sep 1736 Blayney Baldwyn, M.A.
- 13 May 1739 Henry Baldwyn, M.A.
- 21 Apr 1773 Peter Haddon, M.A.
- 13 Jan 1787 Richard Lowndes Salmon, M.A.
- 20 Feb 1828 John Armitstead, M.A.
- 20 Oct 1865 John Richard Armitstead, M.A.
- 1919 John Hornby Armitstead, M.A.
- 1941 Reginald Norton Betts, M.A.
- 1964 Geoffrey Thomas Wykes, B.A.
- 1972 John Basil Rigby
- 9 Sep 1983 David W.G. Stocker, BA
- [...] (unconfirmed)
- 2008 Revd. Thomas Shepherd
Sources c.1100 - 1865.[9] Sources: 1919-1983.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Church of St Mary, Sandbach", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1330401, retrieved 2 May 2011
- ^ St Mary, Sandbach, Church of England, http://www.achurchnearyou.com/sandbach/, retrieved 24 January 2011
- ^ a b c Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 290–293
- ^ a b Sandbach Guide 1970 page 9
- ^ History of the Church, St Mary's, Sandbach, archived from the original on 28 February 2008, http://web.archive.org/web/20080228165903/http://hometown.aol.co.uk/_ht_a/ianian47/mary.htm, retrieved 9 January 2009
- ^ Hartwell, Claire; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 573–574, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
- ^ Sandbach S Mary, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=sandbach&Submit=++Go++&DoveID=SANDBACH, retrieved 11 August 2008
- ^ "Churchyard walls, gateways and railings to southeast and north of St Mary's Church, Sandbach", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1159891, retrieved 2 May 2011
- ^ John Parsons Earwaker, The history of the ancient parish of Sandbach, co. Chester: Including the two chapelries of Holmes chapel and Goostry., Printed by the Hansard publishing union] for private circulation, 1890, 316 pages. pp.45. Online here
- ^ John Minshull, A Short History and Description of St. Mary's Church Sandbach, Cheshire, 1974, Publ. St Mary's Parochial Church Council. pp.10. Online here
External links
Categories:- Church of England churches in Cheshire
- Grade II* listed churches
- Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire
- Gothic Revival architecture in Cheshire
- Churches in Sandbach
- George Gilbert Scott buildings
- Sandbach
- Diocese of Chester
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