Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a brick church dating to 1827, designed by George Latham of Northwich. It was altered and extended in 1884 and 1905. The church is constructed of red Flemish bond brick with a slate roof and comprises a western tower, a nave, and a chancel.

The three-stage tower has a stone plinth common to the entire building. The west face features a projecting door surround with a stone, pedimented top, C19 double doors with a fanlight, and a half-glazed, barrel-vaulted walkway connecting to the parish hall of 1905 (not listed). A stone band runs above the door surround, followed by a window to the ringing chamber, another stone band, and a belfry stage with an arched window. A cyma-moulded string course sits above this, below the parapet which has stone corner piers with obelisk finials. The north and south sides have quarter-circular projections joining the nave’s western end at the lowest stage, each with a hip, conical roof. The upper sections of the north and south faces mirror the west face, except the bell chamber window is replaced by a circular stone clock face.

The north face of the nave features four round-arched windows, with a central rectangular, blank stone panel. The south side features a projecting transept of 1882, built in a similar style, with two round-arched windows to the west and one to the south. A vestry with a keyed oculus window adjoins the east side, and the chancel was rebuilt and extended in 1882 with one southern, two northern, and three eastern round-arched windows, all with panelled ashlar surrounds. The eastern gable end has a gable in the form of an open pediment.

Internally, the nave ceiling has three panels, the central one octagonal with a rosette and anthemia border. A richly moulded chancel screen bears the inscription "TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF EDWARD DELVES BROUGHTON DIED OCTOBER 6th 1889". Oak panelling adorns the chancel, with oval sunflower motifs on the upper panels, and an Agnus Dei and Alpha and Omega sign on the reredos. The right-hand chancel window is a design by Burne-Jones, executed by William Morris and Co.