St Luke's Church is in the village of Lower Whitley, in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
of
Whitley,
Cheshire, England. 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, a ...
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 is an active
Anglican 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 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 archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Great Budworth. It is one of three
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
churches in the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
of Aston-by-Sutton, Little Leigh and Lower Whitley. The other two being
St Peter, Aston-by-Sutton and
St Michael and All Angels, Little Leigh. The three were previously individual
parishes in a united
benefice with
St Mark, Antrobus.
History
The church on this site was originally a
chapel of ease in the parish of
Great Budworth
Great Budworth is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, north of Northwich off the A559 road, east of Comberbach, northwest of Higher Marston and southeast of Budworth Heath. Until 1948, Great Budworth was part of the Arley Hall es ...
. Its date of foundation is not known but in the later part of the 16th century it was in a "very ruinous condition" and was rebuilt on its original foundations by Thomas Touchet. Alterations were made during the 19th century, the major ones being in 1880 when the gallery was removed from the west end, a new organ was installed on the south side, a new
pulpit was installed and the
font was moved.
During this time a polygonal
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
was added at the east end.
Architecture
Exterior
The church is built in brown brick with
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
dressings; the roof is of grey
slates.
The plan consists of a west porch, a
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 four
bays 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.
Ov ...
of three bays.
The
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 sa ...
is a polygonal
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
.
At the northwest is a stone bell
turret
Turret may refer to:
* Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building
* Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon
* Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope
* Mi ...
with a slate spire containing one bell.
Interior
The
hammerbeam roof is intricately carved and is described as being "outstanding".
The pews date originally from the 17th century; their ends have panels and ball
finials. The stained glass dates probably from the 1860s, and is probably by
Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832 ...
.
[ The two- manual organ was built around 1880 by Henry Willis and Company, with additions in 1907 by ]Rushworth and Dreaper
Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders, and later general instrument suppliers associated with Paul McCartney based in Liverpool. The manufacturer was founded in 1828 by William Rushworth, operating until 2002. Upon its liquidation, ...
, and alterations in 1950 by Kingsgate Davidson. The parish baptism registers begin in 1777.
External features
In the churchyard is a sundial dating probably from the mid 18th century. It is listed at Grade II. The 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 ...
is a memorial to the First World War
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 ...
and incorporates a clock.
See also
*
*Listed buildings in Whitley, Cheshire
Whitley is a civil parish in Cheshire West and Chester, England. Apart from the settlements of Higher and Lower Whitley, the parish is entirely rural. It contains 16 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lower Whitley, St Luke's Church
Church of England church buildings in Cheshire
Grade II* listed churches in Cheshire
Diocese of Chester