St Luke's Church is in the village of

Holmes Chapel Holmes Chapel is a large village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Until 1974 the parish was known as Church Hulme. Holmes Chapel is about north of Crewe and south of ...

, Cheshire, England on the

A50 road A5 and variants may refer to: Science and mathematics * A5 regulatory sequence in biochemistry * A5, the abbreviation for the androgen Androstenediol * Annexin A5, a human cellular protein * ATC code A05 ''Bile and liver therapy'', a subgroup of ...

at its junction with the

A535 road The A535 road is a non-primary route in England that runs from Holmes Chapel, Cheshire to Alderley Edge, Cheshire. It passes through the Dane River valley. It is the main road that gives access to the Jodrell Bank Observatory and the Quinta Arb ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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 Macclesfield and the deanery of Congleton.

History

There has been a church on the site since the 13th century. The present church originated about 1430 as a

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

building with a

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 ca ...

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 ...

west tower. 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. Ov ...

were encased in brick in the early 18th century. Shortly afterwards a west gallery was installed as a gift from Thomas Hall. Renovations have taken place in 1839, 1931 and 1950.

Architecture

Exterior

The tower is of

and the nave and chancel are in brick, with a Welsh slate roof. The plan of the church consists of a four- bay nave 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, par ...

s. The one-bay chancel has a lower roof and there is a

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 ...

to its north. The tower has a west doorway above which is a two-light window. Above this is a small square ringers' window and belfry windows of two lights. The summit of the tower is embattled with

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 at each corner. On the north and south faces of the tower are diamond-shaped clock faces. The aisle windows are in two tiers with semicircular heads.

Interior

The timber roof was revealed when a later plaster ceiling was removed. This dates from the 15th century and is a combination of arch braced trusses with cambered tie beams. Oak panelled galleries dating from around 1705 are over the west end and the south aisle, the former containing the organ, and the latter box pews. A carved oak crest dated 1622 is near the communion rail. The stone font is dated 1890 and the oak pulpit is also from the 19th century. On the walls are wall memorials. The brass candelabrum, dated 1708, is the oldest in any church in Cheshire. The stained glass in the east window dates from 1921, and was designed by

Horatio Walter Lonsdale Horatio Walter Lonsdale (1846-1919) was an English painter and designer. Life and works Lonsdale was born in Mexico in 1846. After training as an architect, Lonsdale established a long partnership with the architect William Burges, working w ...

. There are monuments in the church dated 1715, 1801, and 1836. The organ was built in 1851 by Richard Jackson and was rebuilt around 1900 by A. Young, and again in 1972 by L. Reeves. 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 six bells, four of which by are Richard Sanders and date from 1709. The other two bells are dated 1858 and were cast by G. Mears of the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

. The

parish register A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...

s begin in 1613 and the

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

s' accounts from 1812.

External features

There is a churchyard extension that contains the war grave of a soldier 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 ...

References

External links

Photographs by Craig ThornberSt Luke's Church, Holmes Chapel website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes Chapel, St Luke's Church Church of England church buildings in Cheshire Grade I listed churches in Cheshire English Gothic architecture in Cheshire Diocese of Chester Timber-framed churches Wooden churches in England