St Michael's Church is the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of Shotwick,

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 a Grade I listed building. It has a Norman doorway but most of the church is

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. Its furniture includes some ancient items. In the churchyard are several structures that are Grade II listed. The church is an active parish church in the Diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Wirral South. Its

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

is combined with that of St Nicholas, Burton.

History

A church was in existence at the time of the Domesday Book and was largely rebuilt in the 14th century. Restorations were carried out in 1851 and in the 1970s. The parish registers date from 1698.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built of New Red Sandstone. The chancel and porch are roofed with Welsh

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. ...

and the rest of the roof is covered in purple tiles. The south doorway is Norman, decorated with chevrons but rather obscured by a porch of later date. The porch contains stone benches and on its walls are knife-sharpening slots. The tower is Perpendicular in style, and dates from around 1500. The plan of the church consists of a tower at the west end in line with a nave of four

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 ...

and a chancel of three bays. There is a north aisle with a chapel at the west end extending as far as the chancel.

Interior

All the pews are box pews and are the oldest in Wirral; at one time their doors were fitted with locks and keys. In the north aisle is a canopied churchwardens' pew dated 1709 and a three-decker

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 ...

. The altar rails date from the late 17th or early 18th century and the lectern from the late 18th century. It has been said that much of this wooden furniture was moved from a church in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

in 1812. Some of the windows contain 14th-century stained glass. The brass

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

dates from the late 18th century. The tower has a ring of six bells. William Clibury of Wellington, Shropshire, cast the tenor bell in 1616 and the fifth bell in 1621. John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast the other four bells including the treble in 1938. File:Norman doorway, Shotwick.jpg, Norman doorway File:Box pews, Shotwick.jpg, Box pews and churchwarden's pew

External features

In the churchyard the gates, gatepiers and churchyard wall along north side of Shotwick Lane are Grade II listed structures. Also listed Grade II are the red sandstone sundial consisting of a tall bulbous

baluster A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...

on square base dated 1720, and the tombchests of James Phillips, John Nevett Bennett, Rev M. Reay and four children, Robert and Martha Ellison, William Briscoe (died 1704) and others, and William Briscoe (died 1723) and others. In the northwest part of the churchyard are the war graves of nine Royal Air Force officers of World War I.

References

External links

Medieval stained glass information from CVMAPhotographs of the church
from

Geograph Geograph Britain and Ireland is a web-based project, begun in March 2005, to create a freely accessible archive of geographically located photographs of Great Britain and Ireland. Photographs in the Geograph collection are chosen to illustrate ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shotwick, St Michael's Church Church of England church buildings in Cheshire Diocese of Chester English Gothic architecture in Cheshire Grade I listed churches in Cheshire English churches with Norman architecture