Historic Churches in Cheshire

A large 12th-century church, rebuilt on a unique trapezoidal plan in the 13th and 14th centuries. There is a 14th-century effigy of a knight in the Lady Chapel, and another, possibly earlier, canopied tomb in the churchyard. A fragment of a Saxon cross is built into the exterior wall.
Astbury, Cheshire, England, CW12 4RQ

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Heritage Highlight: Unusual trapezoidal layout

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The first record of a church at Bunbury comes from around 755 AD. That early building was constructed of wood, but we know that a church existed on the site in 1086 when it was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The first stone church that we know of dates to 1135, but this was replaced by the current building in 1320.
Vicarage Lane, Bunbury, Cheshire, England, CW6 9PZ

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Heritage Highlight: Superb chancel and chantry, 14th-century alabaster tomb

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Deep beneath the walls of Chester Cathedral lie the remains of the first church on this site, a 10th-century building dedicated to St Werburgh, a princess of Mercia who died in 707 AD. The church served the monks of a Benedictine abbey until the abbey was dissolved in 1540, at which point the church was raised to cathedral status. Look for the Chester Imp, a grotesquely carved figure on the north side of the nave clerestory.
12 Abbey Square, Chester, Cheshire, England, CH1 2HU

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Heritage Highlight: 14th century carvings in the choir stalls

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One of the finest pre-Conquest churches in England, and the most impressive Norman church in Cheshire, St John the Baptist was founded in AD 689 by AEthelred, King of Mercia, as a Saxon Minster church. AEthelred probably reused the site of a much earlier Romano-Christian shrine or church building.
The Parish Church of St John the Baptist Chester, Vicar's Lane/Little St John Street, Chester, Cheshire, England, CH1 1SN

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Heritage Highlight: Superb 12th-century Norman architecture and a history dating to the 7th century

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A 14th-century church with a fascinating Civil War history. Royalists used the church as a barracks, and a window in the Barnston Chapel depicts famous Royalists and soldiers of the period. Another highlight is the 14th-century effigy of a knight, thought to be Sir Patrick de Barton.
Church Lane, Farndon, Cheshire, England, CH3 6QD

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Heritage Highlight: 14th-century Sir Patrick de Barton effigy

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Technically known as St Stephen's this simple 17th-century building is more popularly called the 'Forest Chapel'. St Stephen's was built in 1673 as a chapel of ease for Prestbury and became the church for the combined parish of Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough in 1906. It is now merged with Rainow parish.
Macclesfield Forest, Peak District, Cheshire, England

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St James church in the leafy Cheshire village of Gawsworth stands on a rise above a picturesque pond, facing the medieval manor house of Gawsworth Hall. One of the most famous inhabitants of the Hall was Mary Fitton, once a lady in waiting to Elizabeth I, but more on her in a moment.
Church Lane, Gawsworth, Cheshire, England, SK11 9RJ

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Heritage Highlight: Fitton family memorials

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One of the most interesting Perpendicular churches in Cheshire, boasting the 16th-century effigy of Sir John Warburton, and wonderful 13th-century benches and medieval pews with poppyhead carvings. In the Lady Chapel is the tomb of Sir Peter Leycester, 17th-century Cheshire historian.
Church Street, Great Budworth, Cheshire, England, CW9 6HH

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Heritage Highlight: 13th-century bench ends

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A 13th-century church with a famous timber-framed interior and 17th-century woodwork throughout. The entire nave, chancel, and aisles are supported by octagonal oak beams, and in the Shakerley Chapel is a 13th-century oak chest made from a single log.
The Cobbles, Crown Lane, Lower Peover, Cheshire, England, WA16 9PZ

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Heritage Highlight: 14th-century nave arcade of oak timbers

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A Georgian town church built by a wealthy industrialist. Charles Roe made his fortune in the silk trade, and he provided the money for a fine new church in the centre of the burgeoning town of Macclesfield.
Bridge Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, SK11 6EG

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Heritage Highlight: Early example of cast iron columns in church architecture

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