St Bartholomew's Church is in the village of Church Minshull,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, 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, ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It is an active

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

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 Nantwich. 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 those of St Mary, Acton, St David, Wettenhall, and St Oswald, Worleston.

History

It is possible that a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

church was originally on the site. This was replaced in 1541 by a

timber framed Timber framing () 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 pegs. If the struc ...

church which in 1572 contained at least 50

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic ac ...

of the local nobility, either depicted in the stained glass or painted on the walls. In 1667 a storm damaged the roof and the west wall. At the beginning of the following century the tower partially collapsed and it was rebuilt in 1702. The rest of the church was still in a dangerous condition and it was rebuilt in 1720. A clock was added to the tower in 1722. There were fires in the church in 1798 and 1804 which led to a restoration in 1861. Further fires occurred in 1874 and 1885. In 1891 there was another restoration of the church, by Walter Boden. The previous internal alterations had weakened the structure of the church and in 2000 it was declared to be unsafe. A major restoration of the roof took place in 2002. During 2007 the tower roof was restored and the parapet rebuilt. A kitchen, new boiler house and refurbished toilets were added in 2012.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed of brick with stone dressings. It is believed that the stone pillars inside the church are from the previous building. The exterior walls are of locally-made brick, and the

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

and

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s were made of stone from a quarry at Manley near

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

. The plan of the church consists of a three-

bay 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, ci ...

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 ...

with a choir. At the east end is a shallow

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. The tower, in neoclassical style, is at the west end. The date 1702 is picked out in glazed bricks on the tower, either side of the clock face. On its west face are two round headed windows, one above the other. On the south face is a clock which is balanced by stained glass bull's eye windows in the other faces. Above these are louvred two-light belfry windows. At the top of the tower is an

ogee An ogee ( ) is an object, element, or curve—often seen in architecture and building trades—that has a serpentine- or extended S-shape (Sigmoid curve, sigmoid). Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combination of two semicircle, semicircula ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

and a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a 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/brea ...

with ball-topped finials at the corners. Over the north and south doors are bull's eye windows. The nave and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

windows are round headed. Above these is a cornice and a solid red brick parapet, interrupted by ball-topped

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s over each window on the south side. Externally on the east wall is a 17th-century

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 ro ...

armorial A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coat of arms, coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the m ...

memorial.

Interior

At the west end of the church is a gallery, probably dating from 1861, and in the body of the church are

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 c ...

s. There are memorials to the Brooke family on the north wall and in the south east corner a panel containing the arms of the Cholmondeley family painted by

Randle Holme Randle Holme was a name shared by members of four successive generations of a family who lived in Chester, Cheshire, England from the late years of the 16th century to the early years of the 18th century. They were all herald painters and genea ...

. On the east wall of the north aisle is a tablet containing details of the members of the Cholmondeley family who were buried in a vault. At the foot of the tower is the vault of the Wade family from Wades Green. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

, dated 1717, is in classical style and painted cream. It is by John Morfitt. In the apse on each side of the east window are panels containing the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

and prayers. Also in the church are monuments dedicated to past incumbents. The

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

war memorials date from after each of the two World Wars. There is a

ring (The) Ring(s) 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 Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

of six bells. Four of these are 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 ...

, three being dated 1717 and the fourth 1768. A cracked bell, also of 1717, is preserved inside the church. The other two bells, dated 1982 and 1983, are by

Petit & Fritsen Royal Bellfounders Petit & Fritsen, located in Aarle-Rixtel, the Netherlands, is a former foundry, one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the Netherlands, with the foundry dating back to 1660. Petit & Fritsen was a foundry that cast Bell ( ...

. The parish registers date from 1561 and

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

s' accounts from 1623.

External features

The gates and gate

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

are listed at Grade II. They consist of

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

gates hung on sandstone piers. The churchyard contains the war grave of a marine of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

References

External links

Photographs by Craig Thornber
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church Minshull, Saints Church Church of England church buildings in Cheshire Grade II* listed churches in Cheshire Neoclassical architecture in Cheshire Diocese of Chester Neoclassical church buildings in England