- St Mary's Church, Stockport
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St Mary's Church, Stockport 
St Mary's Church, Stockport53°24′40″N 2°09′20″W / 53.411234°N 2.155514°WCoordinates: 53°24′40″N 2°09′20″W / 53.411234°N 2.155514°W Location Stockport, Greater Manchester Country England Denomination Anglican Website St Mary's Parish Church Architecture Status Parish church Functional status Active Heritage designation Grade I Designated 14 May 1952 Architect(s) Lewis Wyatt Architectural type Church Style Gothic Completed 1817 Specifications Materials Chancel sandstone
Rest of church limestoneAdministration Deanery Stockport Archdeaconry Macclesfield Diocese Chester Province York Clergy Vicar(s) Rev Roger Scoones St Mary's Church, Stockport is the oldest parish church in the town of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It stands in Churchgate overlooking the market place (grid reference SJ898905). The church is a Grade I listed building.[1] It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Stockport.[2]
Contents
History
A church was on the site by 1190 but of this church only the original oratory (which is now an annex to the vestry) remains. Around 1310 a new church was built and only its chancel remains.[3] The rest of the present church was built between 1813 and 1817 to the design of Lewis Wyatt.[1] There was a further restoration in 1848 to replace weathered masonry.[4] The tower originated in the 14th century and was rebuilt in 1612–16 and again in 1810.[5]
Architecture
Structure
The chancel is built in local red sandstone in the decorated style. The rest of the church is Runcorn sandstone in the perpendicular style.[4] Its plan consists of a west tower, a wide nave with galleries, a south porch, and a chancel with a vestry to its north.[4]
Fittings and furniture
The roof of the chancel is the original single-framed timber roof. In the sanctuary is a double piscina, a large triple sedilia and, in a recess, the damaged effigy of Richard de Vernon, who was rector of Stockport from 1306 to 1334.[3] In the church are a number of monuments, including one dated 1753 by Daniel Sephton to the memory of William Wright.[1] Other memorials include one to Sir George Warren who died in 1801 by Sir Richard Westmacott depicting a standing female figure by an urn on a pillar, to Rev Charles Prescott who died in 1820, also by Westmacott, showing a seated effigy, to James Antrobus Newton who died in 1823 by Bacon junior and S. Manning showing a kneeling female figure, and to Mrs Hawall who died in 1852 by Latham of Manchester showing angels hovering over her body.[6] On the chancel arch are the coat of arms of George III in plaster.[3] The parish registers begin in 1584.[3] The ring consists of ten bells. Seven of these were cast by John Rudhall in 1817 and the other three by John Taylor & Co in 1897.[7]
External features
The gateway to the church and a nearby drinking fountain are listed Grade II*. The gateway was designed by Lewis Wyatt and consists of three pointed archways, with crocketed finials above the centre arch.[8]
A rectory was built for the church in 1744 to replace an earlier timber framed building of 16th Century origin. It was the home of rectors, and later bishops of Stockport, until the 1950s. It is now part of a Travel Inn and is a Grade II* listed building.[9] The old ice house still exists within the grounds.
Gallery
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The bell tower of St. Mary's Church
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St. Mary's Church, with the historic glass market in the foreground on the left
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St. Mary's Church
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The drinking fountain
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The gate of St. Mary's church
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St. Mary's church from Millgate, Stockport
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St. Mary's church from High street, Stockport
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The bell tower of St. Mary's church, Stockport
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One of the pinnacles of St. Mary's church, Stockport
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The eastern window of St. Mary's church, Stockport
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One of the remaining graves around St. Mary's church, Stockport
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St. Mary's church from Upper Brook Street, Stockport
See also
References
- ^ a b c Images of England: Parish Church of St Mary, Stockport, English Heritage, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?pid=1&id=210795, retrieved 10 December 2007
- ^ Churches in the Diocese, Diocese of Chester, http://www.chester.anglican.org/churches.asp, retrieved 22 June 2009
- ^ a b c d Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 309–312
- ^ a b c Wilson, Jo (1998), History, St Mary's Parish Church, http://www.msa.mmu.ac.uk/~jo/st_marys/index.html, retrieved 20 December 2007
- ^ Salter, Mark (1995), The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire, Malvern: Folly Publications, p. 70, ISBN 1871731232
- ^ Hartwell, Claire; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 593–595, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
- ^ Stockport S Mary, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Stockport%2C+S+Mary&Submit=++Go++&DoveID=STOCKPORTM, retrieved 11 August 2008
- ^ Gateway to Parish Church and Fountain, English Heritage, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?pid=1&id=210796, retrieved 20 December 2007
- ^ Gateway to Parish Church and Fountain, English Heritage, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=210797, retrieved 9 June 2008
Categories:- Church of England churches in Greater Manchester
- Grade I listed churches
- Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester
- English Gothic architecture
- Gothic Revival architecture in England
- Buildings and structures in Stockport
- Diocese of Chester
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