St Luke's Church, Holmes Chapel

St Luke's Church is in the village of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England on the A50 road at its junction with the A535 road. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.[2] It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Congleton.[3]

St Luke's Church, Holmes Chapel
St Luke's Church, Holmes Chapel, from the south
St Luke's Church, Holmes Chapel
Location in Cheshire
53.2020°N 2.3575°W / 53.2020; -2.3575
OS grid referenceSJ 761 673
LocationHolmes Chapel, Cheshire
CountryEngland
DenominationAnglican
WebsiteSt Luke's, Holmes Chapel
History
StatusParish church
DedicationSt Luke
Consecrated1430[1]
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationGrade I
Designated14 February 1967
Architectural typeChurch
StyleGothic
Completed1705
Specifications
MaterialsTower sandstone
Nave and chancel timber framed, enclosed in brick
Welsh slate roof
Administration
ParishChurch Hulme
DeaneryCongleton
ArchdeaconryMacclesfield
DioceseChester
ProvinceYork
Laity
Director of musicWendy MacDonald
Churchwarden(s)Alastair Cragg, Jayne Weaver

History

There has been a church on the site since the 13th century.[1] The present church originated about 1430 as a timber-framed building with a Perpendicular sandstone west tower. The nave and chancel were encased in brick in the early 18th century.[2] Shortly afterwards a west gallery was installed as a gift from Thomas Hall. Renovations have taken place in 1839, 1931 and 1950.[1]

Architecture

Exterior

The tower is of sandstone and the nave and chancel are in brick, with a Welsh slate roof.[2] The plan of the church consists of a four-bay nave with north and south aisles. The one-bay chancel has a lower roof and there is a vestry to its north.[4] The tower has a west doorway above which is a two-light window. Above this is a small square ringers' window and belfry windows of two lights. The summit of the tower is embattled with gargoyles at each corner.[5] On the north and south faces of the tower are diamond-shaped clock faces. The aisle windows are in two tiers with semicircular heads.[2]

Interior

The timber roof was revealed when a later plaster ceiling was removed.[5] This dates from the 15th century and is a combination of arch braced trusses with cambered tie beams. Oak panelled galleries dating from around 1705 are over the west end and the south aisle, the former containing the organ, and the latter box pews. A carved oak crest dated 1622 is near the communion rail. The stone font is dated 1890 and the oak pulpit is also from the 19th century.[2] On the walls are wall memorials. The brass candelabrum, dated 1708, is the oldest in any church in Cheshire.[5] The stained glass in the east window dates from 1921, and was designed by Horatio Walter Lonsdale. There are monuments in the church dated 1715, 1801, and 1836.[6] The organ was built in 1851 by Richard Jackson and was rebuilt around 1900 by A. Young, and again in 1972 by L. Reeves.[7] There is a ring of six bells, four of which by are Richard Sanders and date from 1709. The other two bells are dated 1858 and were cast by G. Mears of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.[8] The parish registers begin in 1613 and the churchwardens' accounts from 1812.[5]

External features

There is a churchyard extension that contains the war grave of a soldier of World War I.[9]

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See also

References
  1. Cheshire: Holmes Chapel: St Luke's, West Gallery Churches, retrieved 10 September 2007
  2. Historic England, "Church of St Luke, Holmes Chapel (1231322)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 May 2012
  3. St Luke, Holmes Chapel, Church of England, retrieved 10 January 2011
  4. Salter, Mark (1995), The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire, Malvern: Folly Publications, pp. 42–43, ISBN 1-871731-23-2
  5. Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 186–190, OCLC 719918
  6. Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 401–402, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
  7. "NPOR H00023", National Pipe Organ Register, British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 29 June 2020
  8. Holmes Chapel St. Luke, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 10 August 2008
  9. BROOME, G, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 2 February 2013
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