- St Martin's Church, Ashton upon Mersey
-
St Martin's Church, Ashton upon Mersey 
St Martin's Church, Ashton upon Mersey, from the southwestLocation in Greater Manchester
St Martin's Church, Ashton upon MerseyCoordinates: 53°26′00″N 2°20′38″W / 53.4332°N 2.3440°W OS grid reference SJ 773 930 Location Ashton upon Mersey, Sale,
Greater ManchesterCountry England Denomination Anglican Website St Martin, Ashton upon Mersey Architecture Status Parish church Functional status Active Heritage designation Grade II* Designated 11 November 1966 Architect(s) W. H. Brakspear, George Truefitt Architectural type Church Completed 1887 Specifications Materials Lymm sandstone
Slate and tile roofs
Timber-framed top stage to towerAdministration Parish Ashton upon Mersey Deanery Bowden Archdeaconry Macclesfield Diocese Chester Province York St Martin's Church, Ashton upon Mersey, is in Ashton upon Mersey, a district of Sale, Greater Manchester, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.[1] It is an Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Bowdon.[2]
Contents
History
The first church, probably timber-framed, was built in 1304 on the site of an old Saxon burial place. In 1704 it was destroyed by a storm.[3] A new church was built in 1714 for Joshua Allen. In 1874 a baptistery by W. H. Brakspear was added. In 1886, the turret and clock were removed and the following year a new tower was built, it was designed by George Truefitt for Sir Williams Cunliffe Brooks.[1][4] In the same year a ring of 13 bells was installed and a new lych gate was built.[3]
Architecture
Exterior
The church is built in Lymm sandstone[3] with slate and tile roofs. Its plan consists of a wide nave of four bays, a south porch, a north baptistery, and a chancel with an adjoining tower containing a vestry to the south. The tower is square, its top stage being timber-framed. It contains a clock face to the south, gables on each side and an elaborate weather vane. The baptistry is octagonal with a pyramidal roof.[1]
Interior
At the west end is a gallery. The roof is double hammer beam in type. The chancel walls are panelled with the ends of former box pews. One font dating from the 16th century on a 20th century shaft is wrongly dated 1304. Another font dates from the 18th century.[1] The parish chest is long and narrow, and is dated 1706. On the walls are a number of memorial tablets. The parish registers date from 1631 but are not complete and are in part difficult to decipher.[3] The stained glass in the east window was given in 1862 by James Occleston.[4]
External features
In the churchyard is a sundial dating from the early 19th century in stone with a copper dial and gnomon. It is listed Grade II.[5] Also listed Grade II is the lych gate dated 1887 designed by George Truefitt. It is timber-framed with a pyramidal clay tile roof on a brick plinth. Two sides have large semicircular arches; the other two sides are vertically studded. All sides have pierced roundel bands just below the eaves. The gates are cast iron. [6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Church of St Martin, Sale", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1067893, retrieved 10 May 2011
- ^ Anglican, Church of England, http://www.achurchnearyou.com/ashton-upon-mersey-st-martin/, retrieved 10 May 2011
- ^ a b c d Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 22–24
- ^ a b Renshaw, Charles J. (1914), History of the Church of S.Martin Ashton-upon-Mersey (2nd (1950) ed.), Beech Hurst, Ashton-upon-Mersey
- ^ "Sundial, St Martin's Church graveyard, Sale", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1356527, retrieved 10 May 2011
- ^ "Lychgate, Church of St Martin, Sale", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1101520, retrieved 10 May 2011
Further reading
- Hartwell, Claire; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 109–110, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
External links
Media related to St Martin's Church, Ashton upon Mersey at Wikimedia CommonsCategories:- Church of England churches in Greater Manchester
- Grade II* listed churches
- Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester
- Religious buildings completed in 1304
- 14th-century church buildings
- Religious buildings completed in 1714
- 18th-century Church of England church buildings
- Religious buildings completed in 1874
- Buildings and structures in Trafford
- Diocese of Chester
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
