St George's Church is on Church Street, Hyde,

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, England. 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 deanery of Mottram, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the

diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

. The church is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade II

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 was a

Commissioners' church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplied ...

, having received a grant towards its construction from the Church Building Commission.

History

St George's was built in 1831–32 to a design by T. W. and C. Atkinson. A grant of £4,788 () was given towards its construction by the Church Building Commission. It 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 ...

St Mary's Church, Stockport St Mary's Church is the oldest parish church in the town of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It stands in Churchgate overlooking the market place. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade&nbs ...

. A shallow

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 ...

was added in 1882–83. The interior of the church was remodelled in 1885, the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

being moved from its previous central position, the seating was changed, and the organ was relocated. Considerable damage was done to the structure and furnishings of the church in the 1980s by

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...

Architecture

The church is constructed in stone with a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof. Its architectural style is

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

. The plan consists of a seven-

bay 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 (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

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 ...

with 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, a single-bay chancel, and a west tower. The tower is in three stages and contains a west door above which is a four-light window. The middle stage contains circular clock faces, and in the upper stage are two-light bell openings. At the top of the tower is a coped

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

. On the corners of the tower, and at the corners of the body of the church, are octagonal columns rising to form

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. Along the sides of the church are

lancet windows A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

. The east window has five lights. On the wall of the south aisle is a

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

. In 1838 a two-

manual Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual * Instruction manual (gaming) * Online help Other uses * Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ * Manual (band) * Manual transmission * Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

Samuel Renn Samuel Renn (10 June 1786 – 11 January 1845) was an English organ builder who ran a business in Stockport, and later he traded in Manchester. The surviving instruments are mainly in churches, although a house organ is also known. Renn was bor ...

was installed. This was rebuilt in 1912 by Ravensdale of

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

, but is no longer in the church. 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 eight bells, all cast in 1920 by John Taylor and Company of

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

External features

Outside the church are two associated structures, both of which are listed at Grade II. At the entrance to the churchyard on the north side is a

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

dated 1855. It consists of a stone base with octagonal stone

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

and timber posts supporting a slate roof. The ridge of the roof consists of pierced tiles, and on the

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s are cross

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

s. To the northwest of the church is a hearse house constructed in stone with a slate roof. Its keystone is inscribed with the date 1841 and a skull and crossbones. The churchyard contains memorial headstones commemorating six soldiers of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

who buried in it, but whose graves are not individually marked.

List of vicars

The list of vicars of St George's church, Hyde since the church was built in 1832; source: *Herbert Allkin (1832–1849) *Alexander Read (1849–1875) *William H. Lowder, M.A. (1875–1888) *William G. Bridges, M.A. (1888–1906) *John A. Davys, M.A. (1906–1916) *Harold J. Graham, M.A. (1916–1931) *Frederic C. Sellar, M.A. (1932–1933) *Edward V. Dawson, B.A. (1933–1942) *Thomas A. Parker, L.TH. (1942–1955) *Duncan Baird (1955–1967) *L. Roy Lawrence, M.A. (1968–1975) *Michael W. Walters, BSc (1975–1982) *Geoffery H. Greenough, B.A. B.D. (1982–1987) *John H. Darch, M.A. (1988–1999) *T. S. McCabe, BSc (2000) *Steven J. Wilson, Btech (2000–2010) *Joanna C. Parker, M.A. (2011–2017) *Jeremy Bentliff (2018–present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Church, Hyde Grade II listed churches in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside Hyde Diocese of Chester Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Greater Manchester Churches completed in 1832 19th-century Church of England church buildings Commissioners' church buildings Hyde, Greater Manchester

History

Architecture

External features

List of vicars

See also

References