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, Shotwick is in the village of Shotwick, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a 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 have been 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] The ring consists 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]

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire
• Norman architecture in Cheshire

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Church of St Michael, Shotwick", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1145903, retrieved 30 April 2011 
2. ^ St Michael, Shotwick, Church of England, http://www.achurchnearyou.com/shotwick-st-michael/, retrieved 26 September 2009 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 296–303 
4. ^ Thornber, Craig (2005). A Scrapbook of Cheshire Antiquities: Shotwick, accessed 31 July 2007
5. ^ ^{a b} St Michael, Shotwick, Cheshire, Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/search/county/site/ed-ch-shotw.html, retrieved 13 June 2010 
6. ^ ^{a b} 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, http://www.cvma.ac.uk/jsp/location.do?locationKey=552&mode=COUNTY, retrieved 2 January 2011 
8. ^ Hartwell, Claire; 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, http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=shotwick&Submit=++Go++&DoveID=SHOTWICK, retrieved 11 August 2008 
10. ^ "Gates, gatepiers and churchyard wall along north side of Shotwick Lane, Shotwick", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1130550, retrieved 30 April 2011 
11. ^ "Sundial in the churchyard of St Michael, Shotwick", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1145912, retrieved 30 April 2011 
12. ^ "Tombchest of James Phillips, 2 metres south of the sundial in the Churchyard of St Michael, Shotwick", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1130548, retrieved 30 April 2011 
13. ^ "Tombchest of John Nevett Bennett, 5 metres west of south porch of Church of St Michael, Shotwick", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1330309, retrieved 30 April 2011 
14. ^ "Tombchest of Rev M Reay and 4 children, 8 metres south of south porch of Church of St Michael, Shotwick", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1318880, retrieved 30 April 2011 
15. ^ "Tombchest of Robert And Martha Ellison, 10 metres southwest of south corner of tower of Church of St Michael, Shotwick", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1130549, retrieved 30 April 2011 
16. ^ "Tombchest of William Briscoe (died 1704) and others, 5 metres southwest of priest's door to Church of St Michael, Shotwick", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1145909, retrieved 30 April 2011 
17. ^ "Tombchest of William Briscoe (died 1723) and others, 4 metres west of priest's door to Church of St Michael, Shotwick", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1130547, retrieved 30 April 2011 

External links

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

• Photographs of the church from Geograph