St Christopher's Church is in the small village of

Pott Shrigley Pott Shrigley is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census, the civil parish and village has a population of 289.

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Macclesfield.

History

The church was originally a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

for the parish of Prestbury. It was probably founded in the late 14th century and completed in its present form with the building of the Downes

chantry chapel A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

. The east window was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

in 1872.

Architecture

Exterior

The plan consists of a west tower, a short

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of two

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

, wide north and south

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

s and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

. The tower is relatively large for the size of the church, with battlements and

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

s and a four-faced clock dated 1809 made by Thomas Schofield of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. The roofs of the nave and chancel are original and in good condition; the nave roof is

camber beam In building, a camber beam is a piece of timber cut archwise, and steel bent or rolled, with an obtuse angle in the middle, commonly used in platforms as church leads, and other occasions where long and strong beams are required. The camber curve ...

in type and a

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

window has been added to it at a later date. The roofs of the aisles were plastered over in early

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

times. The style of the architecture is almost entirely

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

Interior

Some of the box pews were moved from St James' Church, Gawsworth when that church was

in the 19th century. A holy table in the north aisle is dated 1695, and the altar rails are also from an early date. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

is of grey marble and probably dates from the late 18th century. Two

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

chairs date from the late 17th century. The

Royal arms The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, or the royal arms for short, is the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. These arms are used by the King in his official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom. Varian ...

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. Both kingdoms were in a personal union under him until the Acts of Union 1800 merged them ...

are placed over the chancel arch. The monuments are mainly to the Downes and Lowther families. One of these, dated 1798 is by John Bacon, and another, dated 1840 is by A. Gatley. The east window contains much original glass despite the 1872 restoration by Clayton and Bell. There is a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of six bells. The two earliest date from around 1499 and are thought to be by Robert Crouch; a bell dated 1607 is by Henry Oldfield II and another dated 1796 is by Edward Arnold. The newest bells were cast in 1986 by Eijsbouts. The parish registers for baptisms begin in 1629; burials and marriages were added in 1685. The churchwardens' accounts start in 1833.

External features

In the churchyard is an ancient

preaching cross A preaching cross is a Christian cross sometimes surmounting a pulpit, which is erected outdoors to designate a preaching place. In Great Britain, Britain and Ireland, many free-standing upright crosses – or high crosses – were erected. Some ...

, the base consisting of two large square blocks which are probably medieval. The tall octagonal shaft and cross piece were possibly added when the cross was repaired in the late 18th or early 19th century. The cross is listed at Grade II, and is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Bells

The original bells are a ring of three by Robert Crowch, each bearing his mark and the three leopard badge of the Plantagenets. They are reported to date from 1439, in the reign of Henry VI, but the tenor was recast in 1607 by Henry Oldfield of Birmingham, and Crouch's marks have been lost. Inscriptions in English Black letter are as follows: Treble: "Sancte Xstophere ora pro nobis" – St. Christopher pray for us 2nd: "Nomen Magdalene gerit campana melodie" – In the name of Magdalene make a joyous ring. 'At the meeting of valleys', Emily White, Guide book (undated)

References

External links

Photographs by Craig Thornber

Medieval stained glass information from CVMA

Photographs of St Christopher's Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pott Shrigley, St Christopher's Church Church of England church buildings in Cheshire Grade I listed churches in Cheshire English Gothic architecture in Cheshire Diocese of Chester Scheduled monuments in Cheshire