- Christ Church, Alsager
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Christ Church, Alsager 
Christ Church, Alsager, west endLocation in Cheshire
Christ Church, AlsagerCoordinates: 53°05′52″N 2°19′00″W / 53.0978°N 2.3168°W OS grid reference SJ 789 556 Location Alsager, Cheshire Country England Denomination Anglican Website Christ Church, Alsager Architecture Status Parish church Functional status Active Heritage designation Grade II* Designated 26 March 1987 Architect(s) Thomas Stringer Architectural type Church Style Georgian Groundbreaking 1789 Completed 1790 Specifications Materials Ashlar yellow Keuper sandstone Administration Parish Christ Church, Alsager Deanery Congleton Archdeaconry Macclesfield Diocese Chester Province York Clergy Vicar(s) Rev Toby May Laity Churchwarden(s) Saeed Ashtiany,
Andrew SmithParish administrator Debbie Preston Christ Church, Alsager is in the town of Alsager, 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 church was built in 1789–90 at the expense of three "Ladies of the Manor of Alsager", Mary, Margaret and Judith Alsager, to a design by Thomas Stringer. It was a chapel of ease to St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley, and became a parish church in 1946. To celebrate the centenary of the church a new organ was acquired and dedicated in 1889.[3]
Architecture
Exterior
The church is built in ashlar yellow Keuper sandstone in Georgian style. Its plan consists of a west tower, a six-bay nave and a three-bay chancel with an apse. At the sides of the west door are Tuscan demi-columns supporting a frieze and a pediment which has an acroterion block at its top. Above this the tower has a clock stage with a clock face on each side, and a belfry stage with louvred bell-openings on each side. At the top of the tower is a dentilled cornice and a balustrade. The windows at the sides of the church are round-headed.[1] The bays are separated by giant pilasters.[4]
Interior
Inside the church is a west gallery carried on Doric columns.[4] The gallery is panelled, as are the nave and chancel to dado height. In the chancel the panelling is divided by fluted pilasters.[1] The font is an 18th-century baluster with an octagonal bowl.[4] The stained glass windows depict the Apostles, and were created by different studios at different times. On the south side of the church is a window depicting Saint Paul by Jones and Willis, dating from 1907, and two from about 1952 by T. F. Wilford. On the north side of the church is a window depicting Saint Luke, dating from 1924. by William Morris of Westminster. On the south side is a window depicting Saint Mark, dating from 1952, by Donald Brook. There are more windows, dating probably from the early 20th century, that are unsigned.[4] Also in the church are three plaques to the memory of the five "Ladies of the Manor of Alsager".[5] The parish registers begin in 1789 for baptisms and burials and in 1852 for marriages.[3] The organ was built by Stringer and Company, and was rebuilt in 1990 by Ward and Smith.[6] The tower contains a ring of eight bells, hung for change ringing, six of which date to 1893, and the others to 1902, all cast by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough.[7]
External features
Outside the church is a pair of gate piers in yellow sandstone by Thomas Stringer dating from around 1790. On top of the piers are vase finials standing on a stepped base.[8]
References
- ^ a b c "Church of Christ, Alsager", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1138754, retrieved 1 May 2011
- ^ Christ Church, Alsager, Church of England, http://www.achurchnearyou.com/christ-church-alsager/, retrieved 27 February 2011
- ^ a b Church history, Christ Church Alsager, http://www.christchurch-alsager.org.uk/history.htm, retrieved 20 January 2008
- ^ a b c d Hartwell, Claire; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 96–97, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
- ^ Morant, Roland W. (1989), Cheshire Churches, Birkenhead: Countyvise, pp. 95, ISBN 0-907768-18-0
- ^ Alsager Christ Church, British Institute of Organ Studies, http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/BOASearch.cgi?Fn=GSearch&boa_ref=22799&, retrieved 24 April 2009
- ^ "Alsager, Christ Church", Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers (Central Council for Church Bell Ringers), http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=alsager&DoveID=ALSAGER, retrieved 16 July 2008
- ^ "Pair of gatepiers c. 5 yards from the western door of Church of Christ, Alsager", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1138755, retrieved 1 May 2011
Categories:- Church of England churches in Cheshire
- Grade II* listed churches
- Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire
- 1790 architecture
- Georgian architecture
- Diocese of Chester
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