All Saints Church, Church Lawton

All Saints’ Church stands on a mound close to Lawton Hall in the small village of Church Lawton, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building,[1] and is an Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Congleton.[2]

All Saints Church, Church Lawton
All Saints Church, Church Lawton, from the south
All Saints Church, Church Lawton Location in Cheshire
OS grid reference	SJ 822 556
Location	Church Lawton, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	http://www.allsaintschurchlawton.co.uk/
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	Late 11th century
Founder(s)	Hugh de Mara, Lord of Lawton (?)
Dedication	All Saints
Events	Struck by lightning 1652 Nave destroyed by fire 1798
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	14 February 1967
Architectural type	Church
Style	Norman, Perpendicular, Neoclassical
Completed	1923
Construction cost	£8,000
Specifications
Materials	Tower: red and buff sandstone Body: brick, tile roof
Administration
Parish	Church Lawton
Deanery	Congleton
Archdeaconry	Macclesfield
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Clergy
Rector	Rev Steve Clapham
Laity
Reader(s)	John Atkins, Margaret Cruxton

History

The church was founded around the end of the 11th century, probably by Hugh de Mara, Lord of Lawton.[3] There is a tradition that in the 8th century the body of St Werburgh rested overnight on the site of the church while it was being carried from Lincolnshire to Chester.[4] In 1652 the church was struck by lightning and 11 people in the church were killed. The body of the church was destroyed by fire in 1798 and rebuilt by 1803.[3] Following the fire of 1798 the body of the church was rebuilt in brick in neoclassical style.[1] The cost of this was around £8,000 (equivalent to £850,000 in 2019).[4][5] A south porch was added as a War Memorial in 1923.[6]

Architecture

Reset Norman doorway

Exterior

The tower at the west end, dating from the 16th century, is built of red and buff sandstone in Perpendicular style. On the south face of the tower are carved a chalice and the initials "I. B.".[1] These initials are those of the parish priest of the time, John Bybber,[3] or Byber.[4] The bell openings contain Y-tracery. On each side of the church are two lunette windows, with two round-headed windows between them. At the east end of the church is a Venetian window.[7] A Norman doorway which survived the fire has been reset in the south wall of the nave.[8]

Interior

Inside the church at the west end is a gallery dated 1717 which also survived the fire.[1] It was planned to refurbish the church in 1873 but the full refurbishment did not occur. At the time the old box pews were replaced with the present pews and a two-manual organ was installed in the gallery.[4] Also inside the church are the royal arms of George III and six hatchments of the Lawton family.[9] At the base of a stairway leading to the gallery is the tomb of John Byber on which are carved his initials.[10] Displayed under the gallery are some 13th-century flooring tiles which were discovered during the 1874 restoration.[11] There is a ring of eight bells. Five of these which are dated 1713 are by Richard Sanders; the other three are by John Taylor and Company, one of which is dated 1882 and the other two are dated 1901.[12] The parish registers start in 1559 and the churchwardens' accounts date from 1691.[3]

External features

The churchyard contains the war graves of two First World War soldiers.[13] In the rectory garden is a font dating from the middle of the 18th century.[3]

See also

• Norman architecture in Cheshire
• Listed buildings in Church Lawton

References

1. Historic England. "Church of All Saints, Church Lawton (1161743)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
2. Lawton (or Church Lawton): All Saints, Church Lawton, Church of England, retrieved 14 December 2010
3. Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: B. T Batsford, pp. 129–132
4. Sutton, Ron (Revd) (June 1996), A History of All Saints' Church, Church Lawton (2nd ed.), All Saints' Church, Church Lawton, archived from the original on 28 September 2007, retrieved 3 September 2007
5. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
6. New, Robert (2002), History Tour of All Saints' Church Church Lawton: Churchyard, All Saints' Church, Church Lawton, archived from the original on 28 September 2007, retrieved 3 September 2007
7. Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 289, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
8. All Saints, Church Lawton, Cheshire, The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland, archived from the original on 29 July 2012, retrieved 13 June 2010
9. New, Robert (2002), History Tour of All Saints' Church Church Lawton: Nave, All Saints' Church, Church Lawton, archived from the original on 28 September 2007, retrieved 3 September 2007
10. New, Robert (2002), History Tour of All Saints' Church Church Lawton: Tower, All Saints' Church, Church Lawton, archived from the original on 28 September 2007, retrieved 3 September 2007
11. Morant, Roland W. (1989), Cheshire Churches, Birkenhead: Countyvise, p. 124, ISBN 0-907768-18-0
12. Church Lawton, All Saints, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 10 August 2008
13. CHURCH LAWTON (ALL SAINTS) CHURCHYARD, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 3 February 2013

External links

• Photographs by Craig Thornber