St Mary's Chapel is a former
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 village of
High Legh
High Legh is a village, civil parishes in England, civil and ecclesiastical parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is north west of Knutsford, east of Warrington and south west of M ...
,
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. It 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 ...
.
History
The chapel was built around 1581 as 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 ...
to High Legh East Hall. High Legh became a separate parish in 1817. The parish was refounded in 1973 with the nearby
St John's Church as the
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, ...
.
The hall has been demolished. The church 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 1836, another restoration was carried out by
William Butterfield
William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy.
Biography
William Butterfield was born in Lon ...
in 1858, and the
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 ...
, designed by
John Oldrid Scott
John Oldrid Scott (17 July 1841 – 30 May 1913) was a British architect.
Biography
He was the son of Sir Gilbert Scott (George Gilbert Scott) and his wife Caroline (née Oldrid). His brother George Gilbert Scott Junior and nephew Sir Giles Gil ...
, was added in 1884.
Architecture
Exterior
The chapel is built in
ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
stone with a tiled roof. Its plan consists of 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 ...
with aisles and a chancel. On the west front is a central porch with
pilaster
In classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
s. Above the porch is a three-light
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 ...
window and on each side are two light perpendicular windows. 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 ...
is a square bell turret with a single bell. On the east front is a four-light 19th-century Perpendicular-style window.
[
]
Interior
The ceiling has 19th-century pargeting
Pargeting (or sometimes pargetting) is a decorative or waterproofing plastering applied to building walls. The term, if not the practice, is particularly associated with the English counties of Suffolk and Essex. In the neighbouring county of Nor ...
with Tudor rose
The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic badge, heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor ...
s, fleurs de lys
The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol.
The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
and stars. The pews in the nave dated 1858 are by Butterfield and the wainscotting
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...
and screens of 1884 by are by J. Oldrid Scott.[
]
External features
To mark the advent of the third millennium a carved stone was erected in the grounds of the chapel.
See also
*
*Listed buildings in High Legh
High Legh is a civil parish in Cheshire East, England. It contains 12 listed buildings, which are designated by English Heritage and recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, two are listed at Grade II*, the middle ...
References
External links
Information about the stained glass from the Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (CVMA) of Great Britain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Marys Chapel, High Legh
Churches completed in 1581
16th-century Church of England church buildings
Churches completed in 1836
Churches completed in 1884
Chapels in England
High Legh
High Legh is a village, civil parishes in England, civil and ecclesiastical parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is north west of Knutsford, east of Warrington and south west of M ...
Church of England church buildings in Cheshire
English Gothic architecture in Cheshire
Gothic Revival architecture in Cheshire
Diocese of Chester
1581 establishments in England