St Peter's Church is in Chapel Street, Congleton, Cheshire, 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, 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. Its benefice is combined with those of St Stephen, Congleton, St John the Evangelist,

Buglawton Buglawton is a suburb of Congleton, in the south-east of Cheshire. It was a parish and an urban district (i.e. effectively an independent town) from 1894 until 1936, when it was incorporated in Congleton borough. In 1931 the parish had a populat ...

, and Holy Trinity,

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshir ...

. Alec Clifton-Taylor includes it in his list of 'best' English parish churches. The Church Buildings Council included St Peter's in its group of 300 Major Parish Churches following research produced in 2016. ursell 2016

History

The original church was built on the site in the early 15th century as a chapel of ease to St Mary, Astbury. It was

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 wooden ...

and by 1740 its structure had become decayed. A new church was built in the Neoclassical style and completed by 1742. The tower was raised in 1786. The lower part of the 14th century tower was retained. The architect was William Baker of

Audlem Audlem is a village and civil parish located in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in North West England, approximately south of Nantwich. Close to the border with the neighbouring county of Shropshire, t ...

. In 1839–40 the church was extended at the west end by one bay on each side of the tower, and a porch was added, also at the west end, by Joshua Radford.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in red brick with stone dressings, the roof is of stone slate and the west tower is of stone. Its plan consists of a five-bay

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 ...

continuous with a single-bay

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 ...

, and 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 tower is at the west end. The tower has a clock and on its summit is a

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'). ...

and pinnacles. Two coats of arms are carved on the western wall. The door is at the west end and is surrounded by a porch with Doric columns.

Interior

Internally there are galleries on the north, south and west sides, and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in ch ...

s. The pulpit dates from the 17th century and, at the time Richards was writing, it was the only pulpit in Cheshire to be placed in front of the sanctuary in the middle of the nave. Between the nave and the aisles are square piers supporting Tuscan columns. The

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

font dates from 1742 and a brass candelabrum from 1748. The reredos is dated 1743 and its panels contain the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

, the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

and the

Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". The creed most likely originated in 5th-century ...

. The east window is

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

in style and is flanked by mural paintings of

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

and

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Edward Penny Edward Penny (1 August 1714 – 16 November 1791) was an English portrait and historical painter, one of the founder members of the Royal Academy. Life He one of the twin elder sons of Robert Penny, surgeon, by Clare, daughter of William Traf ...

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was ...

. The royal coat of arms of William III dated 1702 are at the east end of the north gallery. The only stained glass is in the east window. Part of this dates from about 1740, and depicts the Holy Spirit as a dove. Below this is glass dating from about 1922. The finest memorial is a wall tablet in memory of Sir Thomas Reade who died in 1849. This is by Thomas and Edward Gaffin and shows a native kneeling by a

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm ...

. There are more wall tablets dating from the 19th century, and monuments from the 18th and 19th centuries. The organ was built in 1824 by Samuel Renn, Renn and Boston and was rebuilt in 1911 by Steele and Keay. There is a ring of bells, ring of eight bells. The oldest four were made by Rudhall of Gloucester, three in 1720 and one in 1757. The other four were cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, one by Thomas Mears and Son in 1806, and the others by Mears and Stainbank in 1867.

External features

The gates, gate piers and railings of the churchyard are listed at Grade II. The gate piers are of stone with panelled sides and cornice caps. The gates and railings are in wrought iron. Over the gate is a wrought iron Overthrow (structure), overthrow and a lantern. The churchyard contains the war graves of eleven British service personnel, seven of World War I, and four of World War II.

References

Citations Sources * * * *

External links

Photographs of Congleton by Craig Thornber including the churchInformation about the stained glass from Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (CVMA) of Great BritainHeritage Site for St Peter's Church, Congleton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Congleton, St Peter's Church Church of England church buildings in Cheshire Grade I listed churches in Cheshire English Gothic architecture in Cheshire Neoclassical architecture in Cheshire Diocese of Chester Neoclassical church buildings in England