St Michael's Church is in the village of

High Ercall High Ercall, also known in the past as Ercall Magna, is a village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. The civil parish is still called Ercall Magna, and had a total population of 1,679 at the 2001 ce ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England. 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 deanery of Wrockwardine, the archdeaconry of Salop, and the

diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

. Its benefice is united with those of twelve local churches. 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 ...

History

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

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 date from the late 12th century, 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. Ov ...

from the early 14th century. The north chapel was endowed in 1334. The church was badly damaged in 1645–46 during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, and was repaired and reconstructed between 1657 and 1662. In 1864 G. E. Street carried out a

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, and added the south porch and

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 ...

. In 1998 a new bell-ringing floor was inserted in the tower, which allowed the creation of a kitchen and toilets below it.

Architecture

Exterior

St Michael's is constructed in

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 ...

ashlar, and has a tiled roof. The colour of the sandstone in the tower is mainly grey, and elsewhere it is a mixture of red and grey. The plan consists of a three- bay nave, north and south aisles, a south porch, a chancel with a north chapel and a south vestry, and a west tower. The tower is

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 ...

in style. It has a west window, and a stair turret to the north. On the north, west and south sides are clock faces, and above them are three two-light bell openings. At the top of the tower is an embattled

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'). ...

with a low spirelet and a

weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

. Below the parapet are

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 quatrefoil

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

. The base of the tower is badly weather-beaten. The parishioners, however, have a more romanticised explanation, that the damage is due to people sharpening their weapons on it in ancient times. There are three-light windows along both aisles, in the north and east walls of the chapel, and in the east and south walls of the chancel. All the north and south windows in the body of the church are straight-headed. There are doorways on both sides of the aisles, that on the south side being in the porch.

Interior

Inside the church are three-bay arcades in Transitional style, with circular piers, and capitals carved with

volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an Ion ...

s, foliage, and rams' heads. The two-bay arcade between the chancel and chapel is carried on octagonal piers. The nave, chancel, and chapel each has a double- hammerbeam roof. In the north wall of the nave is a re-set early

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

tympanum. The reredos,

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the ...

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...

, pulpit, and font are all in a simple design by Street. The chandelier is by William Bradshaw, and is dated 1730. The floors are tiled throughout. Under the chapel arch is the stone effigy of a recumbent knight, dated by his armour to the 1330s. Also in the church is a bronze sundial plate dated 1718. This was removed from the churchyard in 1998 and re-set on a

stoup A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation. It is used in the Catholic Church, Anglican Churches ...

. In the chapel and tower is stained glass of 1863–64 by Lobin et fils of

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

. Elsewhere are windows by

Heaton, Butler and Bayne Heaton, Butler and Bayne were an English firm who produced stained-glass windows from 1862 to 1953. History Clement Heaton (1824–82) Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. '' London: Allen Lane, p. 371 ...

dating from between 1895 and 1910. The two- manual pipe organ was built in 1856 by

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People * Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) * Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California ...

. It was rebuilt in 1894 by Charles Martin, and restored in 1956, again by Walker. 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 eight bells. Six of these were cast between 1707 and 1767 by

Rudhall of Gloucester Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 cast more than 5,000 bells. History There had been a tradition of bell casting in Gloucester since before the 14th century. ...

, and the other two in 1812 by John Briant. On the north wall are two memorial Rolls of Honour. The older is to men of the parish who served, including those who died, in

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 ...

(called "the European War" on the roll) which bears the motto, ''Honour to those who helped to right the wrong'' and is designed surrounded with shields bearing flags of the British home nations and allied nations, and pictures showing battleships, a gun, tank, aircraft and soldiers in a trench. The page indicates it was printed at the Co-Operative Printing Works in Longsight, Manchester. The other is to members of No. 247 Squadron RAF, (known as the China-British Squadron) who died in

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 opposing ...

, during which the unit were stationed at

RAF High Ercall Royal Air Force High Ercall or more simply RAF High Ercall is a former Royal Air Force sector station situated near the village of High Ercall, northeast of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. History Construction of the airfield began in 1938 ...

. To the side of the list of names is a poem titled ''The China Brits''.

External features

In the southern part of the churchyard are the remains of a churchyard cross dating from the early-

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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

period. It consists of a truncated shaft, and a base that contains a vertical hollow. The cross is included in the Grade I listing of the church. It is also 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 ...

. The boundary wall of the churchyard, constructed in sandstone, is listed at Grade II. In the churchyard, as well as graves covering several centuries, there is a sundial from the 18th-century which records the time in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and Plymouth in Massachusetts. The churchyard contains nine Commonwealth war graves, of six British soldiers of World War I and a British airman and two Canadian airmen of World War II.
CWGC Cemetery report, breakdown obtained from casualty record.

References