St Mary's Church is the oldest

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 town of

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It stands in Churchgate overlooking the market place. 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 I

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 ...

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 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 ...

and the deanery of Stockport.

History

A church was on the site by 1190. A sandstone church was built during the incumbency of Richard de Vernon, 1306–1320 and only its

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 ...

remains. The rest of the present church was built between 1813 and 1817 to the design of

Lewis Wyatt Lewis William Wyatt (1777–1853) was a British architect, a nephew of both Samuel and James Wyatt of the Wyatt family of architects, who articled with each of his uncles and began practice on his own about 1805. Lewis Wyatt is known primarily f ...

. There was a further restoration in 1848 to replace weathered masonry. Further restoration was carried out in 1882. The tower originated in the 14th century and was rebuilt in 1612–16 and again in 1810.

Architecture

Structure

The chancel is built in local 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 ...

in the decorated style. The rest of the church is

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

sandstone in the

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. Its plan consists of a west tower, a wide nave with galleries, a south porch, and a chancel with a vestry to its north.

Fittings and furniture

The roof of the chancel is the original single-framed timber roof. In the sanctuary is a double

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. Lutherans and Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a pisci ...

, a large triple

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, typically made of stone, located on the liturgical south side of the altar—often within the chancel—intended for use by the officiating priest, deacon, an ...

and, in a recess, the damaged effigy of Richard de Vernon, who was rector of Stockport from 1306 to 1334. In the church are several monuments, including one dated 1753 by Daniel Sephton to the memory of William Wright. Other memorials include one to Sir George Warren who died in 1801 by Sir

Richard Westmacott Sir Richard Westmacott (15 July 17751 September 1856) was a British sculptor. Life and career Westmacott studied with his father, also named Richard Westmacott, at his studio in Mount Street, off Grosvenor Square in London before going to R ...

depicting a standing female figure by an urn on a pillar, to Rev Charles Prescott who died in 1820, also by Westmacott, showing a seated effigy, to James Antrobus Newton who died in 1823 by Bacon Junior and S. Manning showing a kneeling female figure, and to Mrs Hawall who died in 1852 by Latham of Manchester showing angels hovering over her body. On the chancel arch are the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

in plaster. The parish registers begin in 1584. 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 10 bells. Seven of these were cast by John Rudhall in 1817 and the other three by

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell (instrument), bell foundry. It is locat ...

in 1897.

External features

The gateway to the church and a nearby drinking fountain are listed at Grade II*. The gateway was designed by Lewis Wyatt and consists of three pointed archways, with

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the Old French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of a crocket to a bishop's Shepherd's crook, ...

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 above the centre arch. A rectory was built for the church in 1744 to replace an earlier

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

building of 16th-century origin. It was the home of rectors, and later bishops of Stockport, until the 1950s. It is now part of a Travel Inn and is a Grade II* listed building. The old ice house still exists within the grounds.

Gallery

Image:St._Mary's_Church,_Stockport_01.jpg, The bell tower of St. Mary's Church Image:St._Mary's_Church,_Stockport_02.jpg, St. Mary's Church, with the historic glass market in the foreground on the left Image:St._Mary's_Church,_Stockport_03.jpg, St. Mary's Church File:St Mary's church drinking fountain, Stockport.jpg, The drinking fountain Image:the gate of St. Mary's church.jpg, The gate of St. Mary's Church Image:St. Mary's church from Millgate, Stockport.jpg, St. Mary's Church from Millgate, Stockport Image:Mary's church from High street, Stockport.jpg, St. Mary's Church from High Street, Stockport Image:The bell tower of St. Mary's church, Stockport.jpg, The bell tower of St. Mary's Church Image:One of the pinnacles of St. Mary's church, Stockport.jpg, One of the pinnacles of St. Mary's Church Image:The eastern window of St. Mary's church, Stockport.jpg, The eastern window of St. Mary's Church Image:One of the remaining graves around St. Mary's church, Stockport.jpg, One of the remaining graves around St. Mary's Church Image:St. Mary's church from Upper Brook Street, Stockport.jpg, St. Mary's Church from Upper Brook Street, Stockport

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, Stockport Church of England church buildings in Greater Manchester Grade I listed churches in Greater Manchester English Gothic architecture in Greater Manchester

Saint Mary's Church Diocese of Chester