Church Of St Chad

The Church of St Chad is a parish church dating to 1903-5, designed by Gerald Horsley. It is constructed of rock-faced coursed stone with smooth dressings, topped with a blue machine tile roof and verge parapets. The church’s design is inspired by the work of Norman Shaw and a variation on the Perpendicular style.

The building comprises a west tower with a spire, a nave, a south porch, a north aisle, a vestry, and a chancel. The tower rises over three stages on a plinth and features 3-stage angle buttresses. A half-octagonal stair turret projects to the left of centre on the south side, running out under the bell-chamber. The tower has modillioned eaves and square-headed bell-chamber openings with reticulated tracery. Small, square-headed, 2-light windows are located on the lower stages on the north and west sides, while a 6-light pointed geometric west window illuminates the west face. The broach spire is topped with massive gargoyles and features large gabled lucarnes just over the eaves on each face, complemented by a miniature range below the apex.

The south porch is attached to the tower, artfully positioned between the stair turret and a buttress. It has a pointed arch entry with label and shield stops, and an inner vestibule. Inside the nave, three bays are divided by single-stage buttresses, and 3-light pointed Geometric tracery windows are present. The north aisle has a catslide roof and bays with buttresses between them. The aisle features square-headed 3-light windows reflecting a 17th-century style. A lower aisle bay extends west beyond the parapet, connecting to the tower wall and incorporating 2-light windows. A gabled vestry is set into the aisle roof to the east, with two single-lights and a 3-light mullion and transom window flanking a central boarded door surmounted by a Caenstone arch.

The chancel, roofed continuously with the nave, has higher eaves and a pair of high-set labelled square-headed 2-light windows on the south side. A 5-light low pointed east window is also present, with an inscribed stone below: “To the glory of God, this Church of St Chad is built by the sons of John Robinson late of Westwood Hall, Leek, carrying out herein what he had himself intended to do - this stone was laid by the Right Rev Sir Lovelace T Stamer, Bart Bishop of Shrewsbury: October 26: 1903.”

The interior is finished with pale stone and darker dressings. A 3-bay octagonal north arcade features moulded capitals. It includes a pointed chancel arch with moulded imposts. The tower ceiling has heavily corbelled angles and features an arch brace collar roof, king post, upper collar truss, boarded soffit, and a boarded barrel-vaulted chancel roof. A timber octagonal pulpit and a font on a peninsular plinth are also present. The lectern is of unusual design in timber, featuring a large aedicular rectangular plinth with a conventional stand. The east window contains stained glass by Comper.