Church Of St Oswald

Church of St Oswald

A parish church of major importance, originally late 14th century but largely rebuilt above cill level in the late 15th century. Constructed in red sandstone with lead roofs, it comprises a west tower, an aisled nave with south porch, a chancel with cross-axial crypt or treasury, a north vestry, and an organ chamber. The east bay of the south aisle contains the Brereton Chapel, while the east bay of the north aisle houses the Cholmondeley Chapel.

The massive three-stage tower has diagonal west buttresses and angle east buttresses, with a south-east octagonal turret. Above the bell chamber is a band of decoration, and the crenellated parapet is finished with crocketed corner pinnacles. The west door is round-arched, with a late 14th century reticulated five-light window above it, flanked by empty niches. The bell openings are simple two-light reticulated designs. The aisles contain late 14th century east windows and late 15th century four-light panel-traceried windows with segmental arches on the west, north and south sides. The clerestorey windows are Tudor-arched with four lights. Tower, nave and aisles are decorated with gargoyles. A small doorway opens beneath the west window of the north aisle.

The two-storey south porch contains a priest's chamber with loopholes to east and west, a south window of two trefoil-headed lights, and a wall sundial dated 1819. The nave, aisles and porch all feature crenellated parapets with crocketed pinnacles, while the aisle buttresses are topped with gables bearing crockets and finials.

The chancel has a five-light panel-traceried basket-arched east window and four-light north and south windows. A vestry was added in 1717, with a 19th-century organ chamber constructed between the north aisle and vestry.

Interior features reveal the extent of the late 15th-century reconstruction. A springer north of the chancel arch, together with gable marks on the west and east walls and possibly the chancel arch itself, demonstrate that the original 14th-century church was considerably lower, with separate roof ridges over the nave and aisles. A rib-vaulted baptistry occupies the west tower.

The nave consists of six bays with wide aisles and slender lozenge-shaped piers featuring half and three-quarter shafts. The late 15th-century roofs are outstanding: the nave and aisles are covered with fine camber-beam panelled roofs adorned with ornate bosses and angels (restored) on corbels; the aisle roofs display simpler detail with quatrefoil panels. The chancel, which is three bays long and has a canted south side, is roofed with a camber-beam design featuring carved bosses. The cross-axial crypt comprises two bays with a quadripartite rib-vault.

The vestry of 1717 (designed by Gardner) contains round-headed windows and an oval plaster ceiling-panel. The north aisle wall is punctuated by four cusped recesses. Three sedilia are set in the south aisle with an adjacent two-arched piscina to the east; four sedilia appear in the south wall of the chancel.

Brasses include examples commemorating Philip de Egerton and his family (circa 1400) and Urian Davenport, rector of Malpas (1495). Originally in the Cholmondeley Chapel, these brasses were moved to the north aisle and south of the pulpit in 1950.

The Brereton Chapel was shortened to one and one-third bays of the south aisle in 1717. It retains a traceried oak screen, seventeen panels of which were replaced with cast-iron facsimiles in 1717(?). An inscription is carried on the head-beams of the screen. The Brereton monument is outstanding and commemorates Sir Randal, baronet, and his wife Eleanor. Erected circa 1522, it features naturalistic effigies on a chest tomb of admirable quality.

The Cholmondeley Chapel was similarly shortened to one-third of the north aisle in 1717 and possesses four panels of traceried oak screen, replaced in cast iron as facsimiles in 1717(?). A Latin inscription adorns the head-beams. The monument of 1605 to Sir Hugh Cholmondeley and his second wife Mary is similar in form to the Brereton monument, though more formal in execution.

The stained glass is varied and includes medieval fragments in the south aisle beside the porch. Roundels of 16th- and 17th-century Flemish painted glass depicting Biblical scenes are installed in the west window of the north aisle and the north window of the Cholmondeley Chapel; these were originally at Cholmondeley Castle and were gifted by the Marquess of Cholmondeley in 1847 and 1956. The east windows of the chapels date to 1845 and are by Warrington. Two windows in the south aisle are by Kempe. The east window serves as a memorial to Bishop Heber, who was born in Malpas Rectory.

Interior fittings include a beam from the former rood-loft visible in the chancel arch; a 15th-century octagonal font with an oak cover dated 1627; a 13th-century wrought-iron-bound oak chest; nine 15th-century stalls with misericords, of which six are much restored; and six box pews from the Brereton Chapel, positioned at the west end of the south aisle. The armorial bearings of the box pews' original owners have been removed to screens at the west end of the nave and within the north porch.

A painting of St Peter's denial, dated to the mid-18th century and attributed to Hayman, hangs above the chancel arch. Three pairs of hatchments commemorate the Dod family of Edge Hall, the Tarletons of Bolesworth Castle, and the Cholmondeleys of Cholmondeley Castle. Significant portions of the church's furnishings were lost during Kenyon's restoration of 1880–90.

This church stands as one of the finest examples in Cheshire of late 15th- and early 16th-century work, a period when such elaborate design was prolific in the county. The nave roof and memorial chapels are particularly distinguished, whilst the effigies of Sir Randal and Lady Eleanor Brereton represent outstanding examples of their period.