Church Of St Michael

Church of Saint Michael

This is a parish church located on the north side of Village Road in Child's Ercall. The building demonstrates multiple periods of development, with a 13th-century nave forming its core, a south aisle rebuilt in the early 14th century, a west end rebuilt around 1500, and a 15th-century tower. The chancel and north aisle were rebuilt, and a vestry and porch were added during a comprehensive restoration in 1879 undertaken by the architects Carpenter and Ingelow. The entire church was restored in the early Decorated style during this 1879 campaign. The building is constructed from dressed red sandstone and red sandstone ashlar, with a plain tile roof that runs separately over the nave and aisles.

The plan comprises a 4-bay nave and aisles with a south porch, a 2-bay chancel with north vestry, and a tower positioned at the west end of the south aisle.

The tower rises in two external stages and features a moulded plinth, a string course to the north, and diagonal buttresses with chamfered offsets. A moulded parapet with carved corner gargoyles runs beneath a battlemented parapet finished with moulded coping and crocketed corner pinnacles, which supports a weathervane. The belfry openings are tall and louvred, each consisting of two cinquefoil-headed lights with Y-tracery, chamfered reveals, and a hoodmould. Below the belfry are small chamfered rectangular openings to the south and west. The west window contains 3 cinquefoil-headed lights whose mullions continue straight upward into the arch; the reveals are chamfered and the window has a hoodmould. A memorial inscription carved into the south wall reads: "Near this place lies the Body of / John Peel [Pool?] departed this Life January the - 177-." A clock is positioned below the belfry opening on the south side. The south aisle shows weathering to its exterior.

The nave features parapeted gable ends with a cross on the apex at the west end. The west window, dating to around 1500, is square-headed and contains 3 trefoil-headed lights with chamfered reveals and carved stops.

The south aisle has a chamfered plinth, a buttress to the right, and a parapeted gable end at the east with moulded kneelers and a cross at the apex. It contains 14th-century windows of 2 trefoil-headed lights with Y-tracery and chamfered reveals. The continuously-moulded 14th-century south doorway to the left is fitted with a pair of 19th-century baize-covered doors. The gabled timber-framed porch dates to around 1879 and sits on a chamfered sandstone plinth. It has a pointed-arched boarded door with strap hinges and a returned hoodmould, 2-light leaded side lights, moulded barge boards, and a cross at the apex. The porch interior contains six-light side windows and an arch-braced collar truss with side benches. At the east end of the aisle is a buttress to the right, and a 14th-century window of 3 trefoiled ogee-headed lights with reticulated tracery and chamfered reveals.

The north aisle features parapeted gable ends with moulded kneelers and crosses at the apices. Its windows contain 2 trefoiled ogee-headed lights with hoodmoulds finished with scrolled stops. A chamfered rectangular recess sits beneath the second window from the right. The east end has a chamfered round-arched window, and the west end has a window with 2 trefoil-headed lights and a hoodmould with scrolled stops.

The chancel has a chamfered plinth, moulded stone eaves, and a parapeted gable end with moulded kneelers and a cross at the apex. On the south side are two windows, each containing 2 trefoil-headed lights with moulded reveals and hoodmoulds with scrolled stops. The central south wall features a reset 12th-century priest's doorway comprising a moulded round arch, a 12th-century hoodmould with large scrolled stops, and a 19th-century boarded door with strap hinges. The north side contains a projecting gabled vestry with a window of 2 trefoiled ogee-headed lights and a hoodmould with scrolled stops, alongside a lean-to structure to the right with a stack. The east end has a window of 3 trefoil-headed lights with a cill string stepped down to scrolled stops at the ends and a hoodmould with scrolled stops. Flush flanking buttresses project at right angles from the east end.

Internally, the church contains 13th-century four-bay nave arcades. The south arcade consists of circular piers with moulded bases and minimally-carved foliage capitals, with double-chamfered arches. The slightly later north arcade features octagonal piers with moulded bases and capitals, except for an earlier half-round west respond; these also have double-chamfered arches. The tower arch is double-chamfered with semi-octagonal shafts and a hoodmould. A 14th-century piscina in the south aisle has a crocketed nodding ogee finial that is now missing. A squint provides a view from the south aisle to the chancel. Windows and the south door have chamfered rear arches, with the exception of the north aisle east window. The nave and aisles are roofed with circa 1879 trussed rafter roofs. A 19th-century tower arch has semi-octagonal piers and a hoodmould. The chancel roof is also of trussed rafter construction. The chancel windows have moulded rear arches; the east window features a cill string, nook shafts with moulded bases and capitals, and a hoodmould with scrolled stops. The north vestry has a doorway with a continuously moulded arch and a boarded door with strap hinges. The priest's doorway has a chamfered rear arch. A sedile sits beneath the south-east window, and a piscina with a moulded trefoil arch and carved circular bowl is also present.

The fittings date from around 1879 and were possibly designed by Carpenter and Ingelow. They include an integral stone reredos consisting of 5 stepped trefoil-arched panels with a moulded cill, brass and wood altar rails, plain choir stalls, a low stone sanctuary wall with a chamfered top, and an integral polygonal stone pulpit with piered ogee-traceried panels and a moulded top rail. A wrought-iron lectern and an octagonal stone font beneath the tower with an iron-bound wooden cover are also present. A cast-iron spiral staircase beneath the tower, originally from Wolverhampton Wholesale Market (1902–1973), was re-erected here in 1974. The east window contains stained glass depicting the Ascension.

The Domesday Book records the presence of a priest at Child's Ercall.