Church Of St Michael

Church of St Michael

Parish church of the 12th and 13th centuries, with the east wall rebuilt in 1719, a vestry added in 1819, and comprehensive restoration carried out in 1910. The building is constructed of coursed red sandstone rubble with some herringbone work and red and grey sandstone ashlar dressings. The nave and chancel are in one, with a stone slate roof over the nave and a plain tile roof over the chancel. A south vestry is attached.

The chancel features a chamfered plinth with a high plinth to the west and chamfered projecting eaves. Raking buttresses of probably 17th-century date stand to the north, with the north-east buttress supporting a stack inserted around 1910 that rises from the top with a square lower part chamfered to an octagonal shaft with a moulded cap. The west end, probably rebuilt in the 13th or 14th century, has flanking buttresses with chamfered offsets and a parapeted gable. A weatherboarded square west bellcote with louvred openings and a pyramidal stone slate cap with finial sits at the west end.

The south side of the nave displays a pair of chamfered lancets. A 14th-century window off-centre to the right has two trefoil-headed lights with a quatrefoil in the tracery, moulded reveals, and a hoodmould. A 13th-century doorway off-centre to the left has a continuously-moulded arch and a circa 1910 nail-studded boarded door with strap hinges. Attached to the wall to the right of the 14th-century window is a 13th- or 14th-century coffin slab with a raised cross and a memorial slab to Thomas Corfead, who died 11 August 1754 aged 58.

The west end contains a restored 14th-century window with two trefoil-headed lights, a quatrefoil in the tracery, chamfered reveals, and a returned hoodmould. The north side has two chamfered lancets to the left. A blocked 13th-century doorway to the right has a continuously-moulded arch, and a 19th-century two-light window with Y-tracery and reset moulding has been inserted in the wall beneath. Herringbone masonry appears at the centre of the wall, and a blocked small round-arched 12th-century window is visible.

The chancel has a chamfered plinth and chamfered projecting eaves. Two chamfered lancets appear on the south side to the right. A slightly projecting wall to the left contains a 14th-century window with two trefoil-headed lights, a quatrefoil in the tracery, and chamfered reveals. A weathered 18th-century memorial tablet is attached to the wall at the right. The north side has a chamfered lancet to the right and a 12th-century round-arched doorway to the left with a circa 1910 nail-studded boarded door. The east end dates from 1719 and features a round-topped plinth with flanking pilaster strips and a parapeted gable end with shaped kneelers and a string course halfway up. Stepped triple chamfered lancets of 1819 have a moulded cill and are flanked at the top by a pair of small reset carved heads and probably uncarved stones.

The vestry of 1819 has a barred chamfered-arched window to the front with a reset crudely carved head in the gable end above.

Interior

The roof, refitted circa 1910, consists of six bays with billet-decorated tie-beams, octagonal crown posts with moulded bases and capitals, arch-braced collars, a moulded frieze, and ashlar pieces.

Fittings include a piscina with a moulded trefoiled arch and a probably 13th-century font with a concave base, a plain bowl with a moulded top, and a 19th-century cover. Reset medieval patterned tiles lie in the sanctuary. A 17th-century octagonal wooden pulpit has arabesque-carved panels, a guilloche frieze, a back board with lozenges and guilloche bands, and a tester with guilloche ornament, cornice, and pendants. An early 19th-century box pews with finials remain, along with circa 1910 choir stalls that possibly incorporate 17th-century panelling and front rails with turned balusters. Late 17th-century communion rails have alternating turned and lozenge-section balusters and finials. A reredos incorporates reused 16th-century linenfold panelling, reused 17th-century circular panels with guilloche bands flanking the centre, and probably reused 15th-century pierced cresting, likely from a former screen. A traceried panel appears in the north wall of the nave, and an early 19th-century Gothick organ is present.

Monuments

The church contains a wooden effigy of John de Pitchford, who died in 1285, depicting a cross-legged knight drawing his sword on a seven-bay trefoil-arcaded base with shields, measuring seven feet in length. Five incised alabaster slabs commemorate couples of the Pitchford family dated 1529, 1534, 1578, and 1587. A tablet to Thomas Otley, who died 22 January 1807 aged 91, features a shield below and an urn above a cornice. Five hatchments are also present.

Historical Notes

The roof was ceiled and plated in 1819, and the reredos was probably assembled from its various older parts at the same time. This small church is graded I for its surviving 12th-century fabric and medieval memorials. It forms part of a close group that includes Pitchford Hall.