St Chad's Church, Over, is in the town of

Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the River Weaver, south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining indus ...

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 was formerly in the separate town of Over, but with the growth of Winsford it has become part of that town. 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, ...

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 archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Middlewich.

History

The church originates from the 14th century and it has been modified on a number of occasions. The original church consisted of a

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 narrow north

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

, a wide south aisle and a

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 ...

. The south aisle was built in 1543 by Hugh Starkie of Oulton, a gentleman usher to

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement wit ...

and a benefactor to Cheshire churches. In 1870 the church was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery. He was Arch ...

and W. Milford Teulon. In 1897–98 the

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

architects Austin and Paley added

vestries A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spent nearly one-fi ...

and an organ chamber. The north aisle was widened in 1904 by John Douglas of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. In about 1906 Austin and Paley carried out a further restoration; this included increasing the seating by 56, and installing heating, at an estimated cost of £899. The south aisle and nave were lengthened in 1926 but the 14th-century east window was retained. According to legend, the building was said to be named because St. Chad baptised locals in a stream nearby to the site of where the church is located today.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built of red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

with a lead roof. Its plan consists of a tower at the west end, a nave with aisles, a chancel, a vestry to the northeast, and a southeast porch. At the east end of each aisle is a chapel. The porch has two storeys, the upper projecting over the lower one. Most of the church is in

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

style although the east window is Decorated.

Interior

A lavishly decorated

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 other Christian art. It is used in Catholic, as well as many Lutheran and Anglica ...

is in the porch, and Hugh Starkie's tomb lies in the sanctuary. The octagonal

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 ...

is dated 1641. In the chancel is a decorated

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stone. This consists of a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

in a recess with a brass

effigy An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...

. There are fragments of

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

and 19th-century glass in one of the north windows. Three of the stained glass windows in the north aisle are by Kempe. The two- manual organ was built by Jardine and Company in 1916, and rebuilt in 1987 by Sixsmith. The parish registers begin in 1558 and the

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 in 1733.

Bells

The church originally had four bells, dated 1513, but these were recast into five bells by Rudhall of Gloucester in 1733. It currently has a

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of eight bells, cast by John Taylor and Company in 1915, which were re-hung in 1938.

External features

In the churchyard is a cross base dating from around 1543. It consists of a stepped octagonal base supporting the lower section of a cross shaft. It is listed Grade II. The red sandstone churchyard walls and gate piers are also listed at Grade II. St Chads Church At Night

Popular culture

The church and its congregation featured on an episode of ITV’s '' Garages from Hell'' in 1998.

References

Citations Sources * * * *

External links

Medieval stained glass information from CVMA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Chad's Church Church of England church buildings in Cheshire Grade II* listed churches in Cheshire English Gothic architecture in Cheshire Gothic Revival architecture in Cheshire Austin and Paley buildings John Douglas buildings Diocese of Chester Winsford