Church Of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is a Church of England church situated on a medieval site in Stanwix, Carlisle. It was built between 1841 and 1843 by John Hodgson, with repairs in 1843, alterations in 1893, and an extension in 1907. Constructed of red sandstone ashlar in irregularly-coursed small blocks, it stands on a chamfered plinth with clasping buttresses that extend as pinnacles on the tower and nave. The building features stone-bracketed metal gutters and a graduated greenslate roof with coped gables and cross finials.

The church comprises a west three-stage square tower/porch, a ten-bay nave with transepts, and an apsidal chancel with a north organ chamber (formerly a vestry) and a south vestry extension. Designed in the Commissioners style, the tower has double plank doors set within a painted chamfered arch on the west side. Tall lancet windows are placed above, with upper ones having louvred vents. Clock faces are featured on three sides of the tower. The nave and transepts also have tall lancet windows. The vestries are characterised by two- and three-light windows, some with cusped heads and others with rounded tops. The apse features an arcade of small round-arched windows.

Inside, the nave and apse are topped with a rib-vaulted plaster ceiling. The windows are predominantly clear glass, though some contain 20th-century stained glass. A painted board displays a list of church benefactors and the arms of the Hanoverian kings from 1714 to 1801. The interior also includes a late 19th-century hexagonal wooden pulpit and benches, and a granite-pillared sandstone font dating from 1893.

Numerous white marble wall plaques adorn the interior, featuring carved portrait heads and draped figures. These include works by sculptors John Kirkbride (1786-1854), Thomas Nelson (1807-90), Christopher Woodall (1795-1859), J Bedford, and Paul Nixson (1768-1850). The foundation stone was laid on 1 June 1841, and the church opened in 1843, but a fire on 21 December 1843 destroyed the wooden fitments and roof. The church is built on the site of a Roman Wall fort.