St Michael's Church, Shotwick

St Michael's Church, Shotwick

St Michael's Church, Shotwick, from the southeast
St Michael's Church, Shotwick
Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°14′20″N 2°59′42″W / 53.2388°N 2.9951°W / 53.2388; -2.9951
OS grid reference SJ 336 717
Location Shotwick, Cheshire
Country England
Denomination Anglican
Website St Michael, Shotwick
History
Dedication St Michael
Architecture
Status Parish church
Functional status Active
Heritage designation Grade I
Designated 1 June 1967
Architectural type Church
Style Norman, Gothic
Specifications
Materials Red sandstone
Roof of Welsh slate and tiles
Administration
Parish Shotwick
Deanery Wirral South
Archdeaconry Chester
Diocese Chester
Province York
Shotwick Church from the south

St Michael's Church is in the village of Shotwick, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.[1] It has a Norman doorway but most of the church dates from the medieval period. Its furniture includes some ancient items. In the churchyard are a number of structures which are listed as Grade II. The church is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Wirral South. Its benefice is combined with that of St Nicholas, Burton.[2]

History

A Norman church was in existence at the time of the Domesday Book and was largely rebuilt in the 14th century.[3] Restorations were carried out in 1851[1] and in the 1970s.[4]

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built from red sandstone, the chancel and porch are roofed with Welsh slate while the rest of the roof is covered in purple tiles.[1] The south doorway is Norman in style, decorated with chevrons but rather obscured by a porch of later date.[3][5] The porch contains stone benches and on its walls are knife-sharpening slots.[1] The tower is Perpendicular in style,[3] and dates from around 1500.[5] The plan of the church consists of a tower at the west end in line with a nave of four bays and a chancel of three bays. There is a north aisle with a chapel at the west end extending as far as the chancel.[6]

Interior

All the pews are box pews[1] and are the oldest in Wirral; at one time their doors were fitted with locks and keys.[3] In the north aisle is a canopied churchwardens' pew dated 1709 and a three-decker pulpit. The altar rails date from the late 17th or early 18th century and the lectern from the late 18th century.[3] It has been said that much of this wooden furniture was moved from a church in Chester in 1812.[6] Some of the windows contain 14th-century stained glass.[1][7] The brass chandelier dates from the late 18th century.[8] The parish registers date from 1698.[3] There is a ring of six bells. The oldest two bells by William Clibury are dated 1616 and 1621. The other four bells were cast in 1938 by John Taylor and Company.[9]

External features

In the churchyard the gates, gatepiers and churchyard wall along north side of Shotwick Lane are Grade II listed buildings.[10] Also listed Grade II are the red sandstone sundial consisting of a tall bulbous baluster on square base dated 1720,[11] and the tombchests of James Phillips,[12] John Nevett Bennett,[13] Rev M. Reay and four children,[14] Robert and Martha Ellison,[15] William Briscoe (died 1704) and others,[16] and William Briscoe (died 1723) and others.[17] In the northwest part of the churchyard are the war graves of nine Royal Air Force officers of World War I.[18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Historic England, "Church of St Michael, Shotwick (1145903)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 May 2012
  2. ↑ St Michael, Shotwick, Church of England, retrieved 26 September 2009
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 296–303, OCLC 719918
  4. ↑ Thornber, Craig (2005). A Scrapbook of Cheshire Antiquities: Shotwick, accessed 31 July 2007
  5. 1 2 St Michael, Shotwick, Cheshire, Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, retrieved 13 June 2010
  6. 1 2 Salter, Mark (1995), The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire, Malvern: Folly Publications, pp. 68–69, ISBN 1-871731-23-2
  7. ↑ Shotwick, St Michael, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, retrieved 2 January 2011
  8. ↑ Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 583, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
  9. ↑ Shotwick S Michael, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 11 August 2008
  10. ↑ Historic England, "Gates, gatepiers and churchyard wall along north side of Shotwick Lane, Shotwick (1130550)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 May 2012
  11. ↑ Historic England, "Sundial in the churchyard of St Michael, Shotwick (1145912)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 May 2012
  12. ↑ Historic England, "Tombchest of James Phillips, 2 metres south of the sundial in the Churchyard of St Michael, Shotwick (1130548)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 May 2012
  13. ↑ Historic England, "Tombchest of John Nevett Bennett, 5 metres west of south porch of Church of St Michael, Shotwick (1330309)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 May 2012
  14. ↑ Historic England, "Tombchest of Rev M Reay and 4 children, 8 metres south of south porch of Church of St Michael, Shotwick (1318880)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 May 2012
  15. ↑ Historic England, "Tombchest of Robert And Martha Ellison, 10 metres southwest of south corner of tower of Church of St Michael, Shotwick (1130549)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 May 2012
  16. ↑ Historic England, "Tombchest of William Briscoe (died 1704) and others, 5 metres southwest of priest's door to Church of St Michael, Shotwick (1145909)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 May 2012
  17. ↑ Historic England, "Tombchest of William Briscoe (died 1723) and others, 4 metres west of priest's door to Church of St Michael, Shotwick (1130547)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 13 May 2012
  18. ↑ SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 3 February 2013

Further reading

Media related to St Michael's Church, Shotwick at Wikimedia Commons

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