St Oswald's Church, Malpas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basic information
St Oswald's Church, Malpas
St Oswald's Church, Malpas from the southeast
Shown within Cheshire
Location	Malpas, Cheshire, England
Geographic coordinates	53°01′11″N 2°46′02″W / 53.0198, -2.7671Coordinates: 53°01′11″N 2°46′02″W / 53.0198, -2.7671
Religious affiliation	Anglican
District	Diocese of Chester
Ecclesiastical status	Parish church of Malpas and Threapwood
Architectural description
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	Gothic
Specifications
Materials	Red sandstone, lead roof

The Church of Saint Oswald stands on the highest point in the market town of Malpas, Cheshire, England^[1] on or near the site of a Norman motte and bailey castle (grid reference SJ485472).^[2] It is a Grade I listed building and is recognised as being one of the best examples in Cheshire of a late 15th to early 16th century church.^[3] Clifton-Taylor includes it in his list of 'best' English parish churches.^[4]

1 History
2 Structure
3 Fittings and furniture
4 External features
5 References
- 5.1 Notes
- 5.2 Bibliography
6 External links
7 Gallery

[edit] History

The church is dedicated to St Oswald.^[5] The present church was built in the second half of the 14th century on the site of an earlier church although there are no structural remains of that church. It was largely rebuilt above the cill level with the addition of a clerestory in the late 15th century.^[5]

[edit] Structure

It is built in red sandstone with lead roofs.^[3] The tower dates from the 14th century and is just over 70 feet (21 m) high^[5] with diagonal west buttresses, angled east buttresses, and a southeast octagonal turret.^[3] The nave and chancel are crenellated^[6]. At the south-west corner is a porch which leads into a six-bay nave with north and south aisles. At the eastern end of each aisle is a chantry chapel, the north chapel originally belonging to the Cholmondeley family and the south chapel to the Brereton family. To the east of the nave is the three-bay chancel^[6] and in the north-east corner is a vestry dating from 1717.^[3] Above the south porch is a parvise and above the doorway is a wall sundial with niches on either side. The porch is embattled, with pinnacles and gargoyles.^[7]

[edit] Fittings and furniture

Within the nave is an oak chest dating from the second half of the 13th century.^[8] The octagonal font is from the 15th century and it has an oak cover made in 1627.^[8] The pews date from the 1880s but some of the original box pews from the Brereton chapel are now at the back of the south aisle.^[9] The nave ceiling is constructed with camber beams^[5] and it has bosses and carved angels.^[3] Above the chancel arch is a painting of St Peter's Denial of Christ by Hayman together with three pairs of hatchments belonging to the Dod family of Edge Hall, the Tarleton family formerly of Bolesworth and the Cholmondeley family of Cholmondeley Castle.^[8] Within each chantry chapel is a tomb. In the Brereton chapel the tomb is that of Sir Randal Brereton and his wife and is dated 1522. The monument in the Cholmondeley chapel was erected in 1605 and represents Sir Hugh Cholmondeley and his second wife, Mary.^[10] Also in this chapel is a memorial to Lady Cholmondeley who died in 1815 by Westmacott. In the chancel is a memorial tablet to Charles Wolley Dod who died in 1904 by Edward Hilton. In the nave is a slab to Urian Davenport, rector of Malpas who died in 1495. In the south aisle are tablets to John Stockton who died in 1700 and Bridget Kynaston who died in 1644. In the north aisle is a memorial to Lt. Col. Henry Tarleton who died in 1820 by Edwards & Co. of Wrexham.^[11]

On the south side of the chancel is a triple sedilia and a piscina. The altarpiece was presented by a Mr Drake in 1721. Against the south wall of the chancel are three 15th century stalls with misericords.^[9] The stained glass includes a panel in the north chapel dating from around 1500 depicting the Presentation in the Temple. Also present are several panels dating from the 16th century and many Netherlandish medallions dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. One window in the south aisle dated 1902 is by Kempe.^[11]^[12] The east window is a memorial to Bishop Heber^[13] who was born in the town. From the sanctuary a staircase leads down to a vaulted crypt below the altar which was formerly a treasury.^[13] The church plate includes a chalice dated 1674 and two silver patens of 1742. The parish registers date from 1561 and the churchwardens' accounts from 1653.^[7]

[edit] External features

St. Oswalds Church, Malpas from the SW

Parts of the churchyard wall are listed Grade II.^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17] Within the churchyard are a number of items listed Grade II, namely, a table tomb dedicated to members of the Duncall family,^[18] the tomb of John Bassett, ^[19]a headstone to the Hobley family^[20] and a sandstone sundial pedestal dating probably from the early 18th century.^[21]

Listed Grade II* are the gate piers and steps at the south-west corner of the churchyard^[22] and the gates, gate piers and steps at south-east corner of churchyard^[23] They were originally made for Oulton Park in the 1720s at the time of John Vanbrugh's work there. They were moved to Malpas churchyard around 1773.^[24] The gate piers and steps to the west gateway to the churchyard are listed Grade II^[25] as are the gate piers and steps to a small gateway at the southeast corner of the churchyard.^[26]