St Lawrence's Church, Over Peover is 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 authority ...

Peover Superior Peover Superior is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is described by the Office for National Statistics as a village surrounded by inhabited countryside. The civil parish ...

. Close to

Peover Hall Peover Hall is a country house in the civil parish of Peover Superior, commonly known as Over Peover, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. History The house ...

and farm. It lies some south of the town of Knutsford. 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 ...

. The church 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 Knutsford. 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 Oswald, Lower or Nether Peover. It is noted for its old chapels and for the monuments to the Mainwaring family.

History

It is thought that the original church was built in the reign of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ...

. The present tower was built of brick in 1739, probably by J. Garlive. The

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 ...

and

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 ...

were rebuilt in brick in 1811 by William Turner. During the restoration the pre-existing stone chapels were preserved. The south chapel dates from 1456 and the north chapel from 1648. The north chapel was built by Ellen, widow of Philip Mainwaring. The church was refurbished in 1895 by the Lancaster architects,

Austin and Paley Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, which went under vario ...

. During the Second World War,

General George Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

and his staff worshipped in the church while they were stationed in

Architecture

Exterior

The plan consists of a west tower, a four-bay undivided nave and chancel, south and north chapels, a south porch and a north

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

. The tower is in three stages. It has round windows and arched bell-windows 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. The south chapel has 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 ...

with three

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es surmounted by

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

s and a battlemented

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 ...

. The north chapel is one of the earliest regular classical buildings in the region.

Interior

The south chapel is approached through a porch and contains a canopied tomb with the effigies of Randle Mainwaring in a complete suit of

plate armour Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, es ...

, his feet resting on a lion and his head on the family crest, and his wife Margery in a long robe and an ornate head-dress. The

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

altar cross, brass candlesticks and hanging lamps are from

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. The north chapel contains the marble effigies of Philip Mainwaring in

, his feet resting on a lion and his head on the family crest, and Ellen with a bear at her feet. In this chapel are monuments to other members of the Mainwaring family. The ceiling contains a carved

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

in its centre. The north chapel screen is by F. W. Crossley. In both chapels are fragments of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

stained glass. In the chancel are effigies of further members of the Mainwaring which date from the 15th century. These possibly represent John, son of Randle, and his second wife Joan. In the main body of the church is the 15th-century

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 ...

which is set on a base dating from a later period. An

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

dating from the 17th century has been moved to the south chapel. 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 ...

is Jacobean. On the north wall of the church is a painting of '' The Boy Daniel'' by John Rogers Herbert (1810–1890). In commemoration for the use of the church in the Second World War by General Patton and his staff, an American flag has been placed in the church with an explanatory bronze plaque. The organ was built in 1898 by Jardine. 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 three bells, dated around 1500, 1626 and 1669. The churchwardens' accounts commence in 1674.

External features

In the churchyard is an old cross base bearing a more modern cross. The cross base dates from the 15th century and consists of three steps rising to square plinth carrying an octagonal shaft base. The cross is dated 1907 and consists of an octagonal shaft topped by a gabled canopy over a cross and two figures of saints. It 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 ...

. Also in the churchyard 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 ...

which was constructed in the 19th century using part of the shaft of the original 15th-century cross. The shaft stands on two square steps. It is also listed at Grade II. In addition the churchyard contains the war graves of three 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 ...

, and an airman of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

References

External links

* http://peoverchurches.org.uk/
Photographs by Craig ThornberMedieval stained glass information from CVMA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Over Peover, Saint Lawrences Church Church of England church buildings in Cheshire Grade I listed churches in Cheshire English Gothic architecture in Cheshire Diocese of Chester Neoclassical architecture in Cheshire Churches completed in 1811 Scheduled monuments in Cheshire Neoclassical church buildings in England