All Saints Church, Marple

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All Saints Church, Marple

All Saints Church, Marple
All Saints Church, Marple (Greater Manchester)
All Saints Church, Marple
Shown within Greater Manchester
Basic information
Location Marple, Greater Manchester, England
Geographic coordinates 53°23′14″N 2°03′23″W / 53.3872, -2.0564Coordinates: 53°23′14″N 2°03′23″W / 53.3872, -2.0564
Religious affiliation Anglican
District Diocese of Chester
Year consecrated 1880
Ecclesiastical status Parish church
Leadership Rev Ian Parkinson, Vicar
Website All Saints, Marple
Architectural description
Architect(s) J. Medland Taylor and
Henry Taylor
Architectural type Church
Year completed 1880
Construction cost £6,056
Specifications
Materials Stone, tiled roof

All Saints Church, Marple is in the town of Marple, Greater Manchester, England (grid reference SJ962878). It is a Grade II listed building.[1] In the churchyard is the tower of an earlier church. This is also listed Grade II.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

The first church on the site was a small timber framed building erected in the second half of the 16th century.[3] The first recorded service took place in 1588.[4] In 1803 the building was in a ruinous condition and it was decided that a new church should be built. In 1808 Robert Goldsmith was appointed as architect and the church was completed in 1811 at a cost of £4,000. A major financial contributor to the building of the church was Samuel Oldknow, a local cotton manufacturer. In 1816 a peal of bells arrived and in 1826 an organ was installed. By the 1870s the church was too small for the congregation and the building was unsuitable for expansion so it was decided that a new church should be built.[5] The new church was built 30m to the south of the old church.[4] J Medland Taylor and Henry Taylor were appointed as architects and the church cost £6,056. It was consecrated on 30 June 1880. In the following years some services were still held in the old church but its condition deteriorated and by 1964 it was considered to be dangerous and it was demolished. The tower was strengthened and the bells re-hung in it, making it a free-standing bell-tower.[5]

[edit] Structure

The separate tower is in four stages with string courses between the stages. At the west is a door with a rusticated surround and a two-light window. In the third stage is a clock face. Above this are lancet bell openings. The parapet has plain pilasters and square pinnacles.[2]

The church is built in stone with a patterned tiled roof. Its plan consists of a three-bay nave with clerestory, north and south aisles, and a two-bay chancel. At the east end is a five-light window and at the west end is a rose window.[1]

[edit] Fittings and furniture

Inside the tower are memorials. Pevsner considers that the best is a tablet by John Flaxman in memory of Rev. Kelsall Prescot, who died in 1823, showing him standing and instructing boys. The monument to Samuel Oldknow, who died in 1828, is by Francis Legatt Chantrey, but Pevsner considers it to be disappointing. A monument to Elizabeth Isherwood, who died in 1835, is by Manning and shows a woman kneeling by an urn. Other monuments are to Nathaniel Wright who died in 1818, showing a cherub with an extinguished torch, and to John Clayton who died in 1848 and shows a standing woman with a lamp and a torch.[6]

In the church the chandelier and font were removed from the old church. Also in the church are memorials to the Bradshaw-lsherwood family.[4] The ring of six bells, which came from Stockport parish church in 1816, are dated 1731. The communion plate includes a silver chalice dated 1762. The parish registers date from 1655.[3]

[edit] External features

The lych gate dated 1893 is listed Grade II.[7] Also listed Grade II are a stable and coach house from the early 19th century erected for the use of the owner of Marple Hall when visiting the church[8] and the adjacent hearse house, also from the early 19th century.[9]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Images of England: New Church of All Saints, Marple. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  2. ^ a b Images of England: Remains of Church of All Saints, Marple. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  3. ^ a b Richards, Raymond (1947). Old Cheshire Churches. London: Batsford, 228–229. 
  4. ^ a b c History of All Saints'. All Saints' Church, Marple. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  5. ^ a b Hague, J. E. (1980). All Saints, Marple Building Centenary 1880-1980. All Saints' Church, Marple. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  6. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Edward Hubbard [1971] (2003). The Buildings of England: Cheshire. New Haven: Yale University Press, 276. ISBN 0 300 09588 0. 
  7. ^ Images of England: Lych gate. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  8. ^ Images of England: Stabling. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  9. ^ Images of England: Hearse House. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.