St John's Church, High Legh

St John's Church, High Legh

A church seen from the west showing timber framing, brickwork, windows, and a tower with a lead spire

St John's Church, High Legh
St John's Church, High Legh
Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°21′11″N 2°27′06″W / 53.3531°N 2.4518°W / 53.3531; -2.4518
OS grid reference SJ 700 841
Location High Legh, Cheshire
Country UK
Denomination Anglican
Website St John's, High Legh
History
Founded (dedicated) 1816
Architecture
Status Parish church
Functional status Active
Heritage designation Grade II
Designated 3 September 1984
Architect(s) Edmund Kirby
Architectural type Church
Completed 1893
Specifications
Materials Ashlar stone and brick, with cladding of timbframing
Administration
Parish High Legh
Deanery Knutsford
Archdeaconry Macclesfield
Diocese Chester
Province York
Laity
Reader(s) Giselle Rusted
Churchwarden(s) Arthur Wardell,
Stewart Jackson
Parish administrator Martin Smith


St John's Church is located in the village of High Legh, Cheshire, England, and is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Knutsford, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester.

Its benefice was united with St Paul's Church, Over Tabley until 1 March 2011, each parish now having its own benefice.[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[2]

History

St John's Church was established by the Leigh family of West Hall, as its domestic chapel. Its construction was started in 1814 with an Ionic façade, to a design by Thomas Harrison.[3] The original edifice burnt down in 1891.[4] The remaining stone walls were used as foundations for the new church designed by Edmund Kirby and built in 1893.[5] The roof was re-tiled in 1982.[2] In 2008 a new stained glass window was installed depicting Christ and Fishermen, designed by Roy Coomber and made by Pendle Stained Glass.[6]

Architecture

The church is constructed in ashlar stone and brick, with a tiled roof and on its exterior timber framing with rendered infill;[2] its interior is brick-faced throughout.[5] The church's layout consists of a narthex at the west end (comprising its narthex at ground level, and a two-level tower above), a three-bay nave with a south porch and a vestry projecting to the south, and a chancel.

The projecting west front of the narthex has a central window with four casements and a two-light window on each side; above the window is a timber-framed gable, and the lower stage of the tower contains a bay window with four mullioned and transomed lights on the front and similar two-light windows on the sides; above the bay window is another timber-framed gable. The top stage consists of a brick belfry with louvred bell openings. At the top of the tower is a double-pitched roof with a lead spire. The south front of the church is clad with close studding, and it contains four-light windows with perpendicular-style tracery. The vestry has a half-hipped roof and a six-light casement window. In the chancel is an east window.[2] An extension, in keeping with the design and appearance of the original building, was added to the south side of the vestry in 1993. This was enlarged in 2010 and now includes a parish room, kitchen, toilet and storage facilities.

See also

References

  1. ↑ St John, High Legh, Church of England, retrieved 10 January 2011
  2. 1 2 3 4 Historic England, "Church of St John, High Legh (1139514)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 4 August 2012
  3. ↑ Remains Historical & Literary of Lancashire and Cheshire, Chetham Society (1845)
  4. ↑ de Figueiredo, Peter; Treuherz, Julian (1988), Cheshire Country Houses, Chichester: Phillimore, pp. 241–242, ISBN 0-85033-655-4
  5. 1 2 Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 399, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
  6. ↑ St John's Church, High Legh, Knutsford, Cheshire, Pendle Stained Glass, retrieved 10 January 2011
Arms of Leigh of West Hall, High Legh
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