Church Of St Mary The Virgin

Church of St Mary the Virgin

An Anglican parish church of exceptional architectural quality, representing one of the finest Perpendicular examples in the country. The building dates from the late 15th century, with some rebuilding in 1670 and a chancel rebuilt in 1853 by Clutton. It is constructed in limestone ashlar with lead roofs.

The plan comprises a west tower, a nave with north and south aisles, north and south porches, and a chancel with chapels. The church's wealth and architectural ambition reflect Steeple Ashton's prosperous woollen industry.

The south porch is a two-storey structure featuring a Tudor-arched doorway with hoodmould, diagonal buttresses rising to crocketed pinnacles, a gabled parapet with string courses, and a large incised sundial set over the door. A 2-light cusped square-headed window occupies the first floor. The south aisle contains half a 4-light Tudor-arched window, its remaining space taken up by a polygonal stair turret serving the porch. Elaborate aisle and nave buttresses, panelled and crocketed, are a distinctive feature. To the right of the porch, an aisle and chapel contain four 4-light windows and a square moulded doorway.

The exterior displays a four-bay clerestory with 4-light windows. Both the aisle and nave roofs feature richly carved battlemented parapets with string courses punctuated by large gargoyles. Flying buttresses support the east corners of the nave, while 4-light windows light the east end of the aisles.

The chancel contains a five-light east window with Perpendicular tracery, dating from the 1850s. Its north side is lit by a 19th-century two-light window in Perpendicular style.

The north aisle displays a blocked east window, four 4-light Perpendicular windows to the left of a single-storey porch with blocked doorway and an inserted window from the 1980s. Two further 4-light windows are positioned to the right. The north aisle roof and clerestory mirror the south side's design and detailing.

The four-stage tower is flanked by bays, each with 4-light windows to north and south, and 2-light windows to the west ends. Polygonal stair turrets are integrated into the design. The tower features a Tudor-arched moulded west doorway with a 4-light window above, fine canopied image niches, and 3-light windows to the second, third, and fourth stages. The lower stages have blocked openings, whilst the bellstage retains Somerset-type stone louvres. Set-back buttresses, string courses, and gargoyles lead to a battlemented parapet with corner pinnacles. A brass inscription records that the original spire fell in 1670, and the tower was subsequently rebuilt in 1675.

Interior

The south porch is vaulted with a lierne vault featuring carved bosses on bust corbels. Fixed stone benches, early 19th-century double doors, and an original ledged Tudor-arched door are preserved.

The four-bay nave contains an unusual wooden lierne vault with carved pendants and bosses—originally intended to be executed in stone. Tall moulded pointed arcades of four bays rise on compound piers. The tall clerestory features moulded stone springers springing from busts designed to support the vault. A panelled pointed tower arch marks the entrance to the nave.

The four-bay aisles are vaulted in stone lierne, with crocketed image niches adorned with finely carved busts below, some of which may have been recut. The south bay flanking the tower contains a baptistry with moulded cross-beam ceilings and a 19th-century octagonal stone font with tall wooden cover.

The Lady Chapel to the south of the chancel features a 2-bay stone lierne vault supported on niches with busts. The north aisle east bays are occupied by an organ chamber and small chapel.

The chancel is entered through a moulded pointed arch. A blocked 5-light window and the original lower roofline are visible above. The 19th-century three-bay vaulted ceiling and a 19th-century carved wooden reredos are present, along with a Minton tiled floor.

Fittings and Monuments

19th-century nave and chancel seating, a 19th-century polygonal carved wooden pulpit, and three 19th-century brass candelabra are among the furnishings. Some medieval stained glass survives in the aisles and Lady Chapel, complemented by a 1879 west window.

The church contains a notable collection of monuments. The baptistry holds a large coloured marble monument to John Smith (died 1775). The south aisle features a marble monument to Henry Long of Rood Ashton (died 1672), whilst a stone tablet in the north aisle commemorates Elizabeth Silverthorn (died 1756). A gothic tablet above the south door records Samuel Hey (died 1825), founder of the Hey library.

A brass plate records the building of the aisles, funded by Robert Long and Walter Leucas.