St. Thomas' Church is at the top of a lane overlooking the village of

Mellor, Greater Manchester Mellor is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Stockport district, in Greater Manchester, England; it lies between Marple Bridge and New Mills in Derbyshire. It was a civil parish in the county of Derbyshire until 1936, when it ...

, England, with views over Manchester, Cheshire and beyond. 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 ...

. The church contains the oldest wooden

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

in England and a late 12th-century

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 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

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 ...

. 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 deanery of Chadkirk, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and 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 ...

History

The first stone building was probably erected in the early 14th century. In 1783 the walls were partly rebuilt and galleries were constructed on the south and east walls. At this time the church could seat 700 people. In 1815 a new entrance and porch were built and the south wall was repaired. In 1827–29 the chancel and the north wall were reconstructed to designs by the

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

Thomas Rickman Thomas Rickman (8 June 17764 January 1841) was an English architect and architectural antiquary who was a major figure in the Gothic Revival. He is particularly remembered for his ''Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture'' ...

. In 1885 the east gallery was removed. In the first decade of the 20th century the south and west galleries were demolished. In 1960, a

death watch beetle The deathwatch beetle (''Xestobium rufovillosum'') is a species of woodboring beetle that sometimes infests the structural timbers of old buildings. The adult beetle is brown and measures on average long. Eggs are laid in dark crevices in old w ...

was found in the roof and the roof was replaced. The screen was moved from the front of the nave to its present position at the rear creating a new chapel at the west end. A new Mander organ was installed in 1977. The tower dates from the 15th century, it was built on 12th-century foundations, and the rest of the church dates from its rebuilding in the early 19th century.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in stone. Its plan consists of a west tower, a four-bay nave, a one-bay chancel and a south porch. At the east end is a pointed-arch window. The tower is in three stages and has a west door and window, two-light bell openings above which are clock faces, and a

castellated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

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

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 ...

Interior

Two important items of furniture in the church are the 14th-century

and the

. The pulpit is unique in England. Richards states it is the oldest wooden pulpit in England, and possibly in the world. It dates from the time of Edward II. It is octagonal in shape, with two of the sides forming the entrance. Five of the other six panels are carved with

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

. It is carved out of one block of wood. The font dates from the 11th century; it is not certain whether it was constructed before or after the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. It is round and plain apart from the bowl which is carved with an incised design of figures and animals. The basin, which is lined with lead. The parish registers begin in 1629.

External features

In the churchyard are the remains of an Anglo-Saxon cross and a pair of stone shafts of stocks dating probably from the 19th century. Also in the churchyard is the headstone of Thomas Brierley, who died in 1855, carved with

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

symbols, and the war graves of two soldiers 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