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St Michael and All Angels, Middlewich

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St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich
St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich, from the southeast
St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich is located in Cheshire
St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich
St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich
Location in Cheshire
53°11′33″N 2°26′41″W / 53.1926°N 2.4446°W / 53.1926; -2.4446
SJ 703 662
LocationMiddlewich, Cheshire
CountryEngland
DenominationAnglican
WebsiteSt Michael and All Angels, Middlewich
History
StatusParish church
DedicationSt Michael and All Angels
Architecture
Functional status
Active
Heritage designation
Grade II*
Designated5 December 1986
Architectural type
Church
StyleNorman, Perpendicular
Specifications
MaterialsRed sandstone
Administration
ProvinceYork
DioceseChester
ArchdeaconryChester
DeaneryMiddlewich
Clergy
RectorRev Simon Drew

St. Michael and All Angels is the parish church for the town of Middlewich in Cheshire, England. It stands at the junction of the A54 and A533 roads.[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.[2] It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Middlewich. Its benefice is combined with that of St John, Byley.[3] In 1947 the architectural historian Raymond Richards described the church as "the one building, in a depressing town, which is mellow and dignified".[4]

History

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Parts of the church date from the 12th century, possibly the lower portion of the tower, but more likely the narrow arcade of the east bay.[5][6] Most of the church was built during the period between about 1480 and 1520[7] when the nave clerestory was added, new windows were inserted, the Lady chapel was built at the east end of the south aisle and a two-storey porch was added to the south side. In the following century the Kinderton chapel was added at the east end of the north aisle.[4] The church was damaged during the English Civil War, particularly during the First Battle of Middlewich in March 1643, when the Royalists used it as a place of sanctuary.[4] In 1801 restorations were carried out, including moving the Venables screen into the tower. In 1857 a window was added to the memory of John Hulse.[5] In 1857–60 the north aisle and Kinderton chapel were remodelled by Joseph Clarke.[7] This was a part of a general remodelling of the church, which included removing the whitewash from the interior of the church to reveal the sandstone appearance seen today.[8]

Architecture

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Exterior

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The church is built of sandstone and is mainly Perpendicular in style.[4] The plan of the church consists of a tower at the northwest, a four-bay nave with a clerestory, broad north and south aisles, a two-bay chancel and a south porch. At the east end of the north aisle is the Kinderton chapel, built in the 16th century, and at the east end of the south aisle is a chapel which was formerly a Lady chapel.[7]

Interior

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The timber roof of the chancel was originally built by Sir William Brereton in 1621. This was replaced in 1951 with a design copying the original.[8] The Kinderton Chapel (also known as the Bostock Chapel) is now used as the rector's vestry, and it contains the oldest monument in the church, a brass dated 1591 in memory of Elizabeth Venables, wife of Baron Kinderton. A Jacobean screen with the carved arms of the Venables family was originally at the entrance to the Kinderton chapel but is now inside the tower.[8] The organ was built in 1908 by Conacher and radically rebuilt in 1964 by Rushworth and Dreaper.[9] There is a ring of eight bells. Three of these were cast in 1711 by Rudhall of Gloucester, one bell was cast in 1841 by Thomas Mears II at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, and the other four are dated 1897 by John Taylor and Company.[10] The parish registers begin in 1604 and the churchwardens' accounts in 1636.[4]

External features

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In the churchyard is a sundial probably dating from the late 18th century. It consists of a vase baluster on a circular stone step on brick base. The copper dial has a date which is illegible and the gnomon is broken. It is designated as a Grade II listed building.[11]

Clock

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The parish registers record a payment to Thorley in 1640 to repair the clock and make a key for the doors.[12] In 1699 the clock was carried to Nantwich for repair and returned, but this was then replaced by a new clock constructed by Gabriel Smith of Nantwich in 1708. The clock had an hour hand only, and the dial was painted on the stonework of the tower.

The clock of 1708 was replaced by a new one by J. B. Joyce & Co of Whitchurch in 1846[13] at a cost of £200 (equivalent to £20,158 in 2025).[14] This included a ting-tang quarter chime and hour strike, the mechanism for this continued in operation until 1887. This clock was restored in 1902 and improved by the replacement of copper dials with illuminated ones and the addition of Westminster Chimes at a cost of £180 (equivalent to £19,129 in 2025).[14] The chimes were inaugurated at the service held on 9 August 1902 to mark the Coronation of King Edward VII.

Priests and Vicars of Middlewich

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Priests
~1200Warin 1342John de Leysthorp 1429Thomas Thikenes
~1250Thomas 1349John Bele 1459John Heynes
1306Richard Tuchet 1352John Folvill 1484John Bressnel
1329John de Offord 1361Thomas Fraunceys 1494William Sutheworthe
1330Andrew de Offord 1402John Tochet
Vicars
1504William Bithewaithe 1695William Handford 1877Francis Minton
1504John Fornebye 1702John Cowper 1902Hesketh France Hayhurst
1525Amerus Burdet 1719John Cartwright 1904Arthur Gascoigne Child
1563John Knightley 1731John Swinton 1921Wilfrid Rawton Ingham
1568Peter Presland 1737Robert Moreton 1937Albert William Harrison-Harlow MC
1580William Kinsey 1780William Kyffin 1947George Richardson Kemp
1616Robert Halliley 1787Joshua Powell 1952Leslie Edgar Evans
1646Thomas Langley* 1797William Henry Heron 1957Laurence Roy Ridley
1647Matthew Clayton* 1811James Stringer 1969Eric Alexander Owen
1662Lawrence Griffith 1819Isaac Wood 1971Eric William Cox[15]
1680Thomas Faulkner 1864Henry Goodwin 

*denotes joint ministers

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Middlewich, Streetmap, retrieved 17 January 2011
  2. ↑ Historic England, "Church of St Michael and All Angels, Middlewich (1138795)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 5 August 2012
  3. ↑ St Michael & All Angels, Middlewich, Church of England, retrieved 17 January 2011
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: B. T Batsford, pp. 234–237
  5. 1 2 Charles Frederick Lawrence (1895), History of Middlewich, Eachus and Son, Sandbach
  6. ↑ St. Michael and All Angels, Middlewich, The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, retrieved 13 June 2010{{citation}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  7. 1 2 3 Salter, Mark (1995), The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire, Malvern: Folly Publications, p. 52, ISBN 1-871731-23-2
  8. 1 2 3 About the Church, St Michael and All Angels Church, Middlewich, archived from the original on 8 December 2004, retrieved 3 October 2007
  9. ↑ "NPOR [N04308]", National Pipe Organ Register, British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 1 July 2020
  10. ↑ Middlewich S Michael, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 11 August 2008
  11. ↑ Historic England, "Sundial south of west bay of Church of St Michael and All Angels, Middlewich (1229502)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 5 August 2012
  12. ↑ "Middlewich Church Clock and Chimes". Northwich Guardian. United Kingdom. 21 June 1902. Retrieved 20 December 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ↑ "Middlewich". Chester Courant. United Kingdom. 23 December 1846. Retrieved 20 December 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. 1 2 UK Consumer Price Index inflation figures from 1209–2024 based on data from "Inflation calculator". Bank of England. London. 18 February 2026. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  15. ↑ Richards, Raymond (1971), Old Cheshire Churches: A Survey of their History, Fabric and Furniture with Records of the Older Monuments
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