St James' Church, Gawsworth
Encyclopedia
St James' Church, Gawsworth, is in the village of Gawsworth
, Cheshire
, England, and is sited near Gawsworth Hall
. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican
parish church
in the diocese of Chester
, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Macclesfield. Clifton-Taylor
includes it in his list of 'best' English parish churches. The authors of the Buildings of England
series describe the church as being "pretty, but odd".
. The tower and chancel were built some 40 years later in sandstone
. The church is entirely Perpendicular in style. The plan of the church consists of a tower at the west end, a wide three-bay
nave without aisles, a south porch and a chancel divided from the nave by a screen. The tower has angular buttress
es with niche
s which used to contain statues. It also has gargoyle
s, the coats of arms
of Cheshire families, and Tudor
badges. The porch also has niches over the doorway. The nave and chancel are embattled
with pinnacle
s.
ceiling of the nave dates from the 15th century and the camber beam
chancel ceiling, which is panelled, dates from slightly later. The chancel screen is dated 1894. The octagonal 16th-century font
sits on a 19th-century stem with a wooden cover. At the east end of the chancel is a sanctus cot and bell
. In the 19th century most of the old stained glass was removed, although fragments remain in the chancel windows. The stained glass in the east window is by William Wailes
.
In the chancel are four tombs of members of the Fitton (Fytton) family. The oldest is an altar tomb to Francis Fytton dated 1608. On the top of the tomb is his recumbent bearded effigy
and beneath him is a skeleton. Opposite is the monument to Dame Alice Fitton who died around 1626. In front of her seated effigy are effigies of her two sons kneeling, and behind her are figures of her two daughters, also kneeling. Adjacent is the tomb of Sir Edward Fitton, 1st baronet, and his wife Anne, who died in 1619 and 1644 respectively. In front of the tomb are the keeling figures of their three sons and seven daughters. One of the daughters was Mary
, a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth I
and a candidate for the "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets
. The fourth tomb is to the memory of Sir Edward Fitton, 2nd baronet, who died in 1643, and his first wife Jane.
The two-manual
organ was built by Nicholson and Lord of Walsall in 1895, obscuring the southwest window. In 1917 it was enlarged by Hayter and Son of Letchworth, obscuring the west window. In 1961 the organ was rebuilt and divided by Cyril Wood of Ashton-under-Lyne to reveal the west window. The ring
consists of eight bells. Six of there were cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
, one by Charles and George Mears in 1856, the other five by Mears and Stainbank in 1890. The other two bells were cast by John Taylor and Company in 1907. The parish register
s date from 1557.
. It consists of a square cross base and an octagonal shaft on a stepped plinth
. A 20th-century wooden circular cross has been set on the shaft.
Gawsworth
Gawsworth is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is one of the eight ancient parishes of Macclesfield Hundred. Twenty acres of the civil parish were transferred to Macclesfield civil parish in 1936The country houses...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England, and is sited near Gawsworth Hall
Gawsworth Hall
Gawsworth Old Hall is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Gawsworth, Cheshire, England. It is a timber-framed house in the Cheshire black-and-white style. The present house was built between 1480 and 1600, replacing an earlier Norman house...
. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in the diocese of Chester
Diocese of Chester
The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York based in Chester, covering the county of Cheshire in its pre-1974 boundaries...
, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Macclesfield. Clifton-Taylor
Alec Clifton-Taylor
Alec Clifton-Taylor OBE was an English architectural historian, writer and TV broadcaster.-Biography and works:...
includes it in his list of 'best' English parish churches. The authors of the Buildings of England
Pevsner Architectural Guides
The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of the British Isles. Begun in the 1940s by art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the Buildings of England series were published between 1951 and 1975. The series was then extended to Scotland and...
series describe the church as being "pretty, but odd".
History
There is a record of a chapel on the site in the 13th century but the present building dates from the 15th century.Exterior
The nave is the oldest part of the church dating from 1430 and is built from limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. The tower and chancel were built some 40 years later in sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. The church is entirely Perpendicular in style. The plan of the church consists of a tower at the west end, a wide three-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
nave without aisles, a south porch and a chancel divided from the nave by a screen. The tower has angular buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es with niche
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
s which used to contain statues. It also has gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
s, the coats of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of Cheshire families, and Tudor
Tudor style architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
badges. The porch also has niches over the doorway. The nave and chancel are embattled
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
with pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
s.
Interior
The rafter beamRafter
A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members , that extend from the ridge or hip to the downslope perimeter or eave, designed to support the roof deck and its associated loads.-Design:...
ceiling of the nave dates from the 15th century and the camber beam
Camber beam
In building, a camber beam is a piece of timber cut archwise, or with an obtuse angle in the middle, commonly used in platforms, as church leads, and other occasions where long and strong beams are required....
chancel ceiling, which is panelled, dates from slightly later. The chancel screen is dated 1894. The octagonal 16th-century font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
sits on a 19th-century stem with a wooden cover. At the east end of the chancel is a sanctus cot and bell
Altar bell
In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, in Lutheranism and Methodism, and in some churches of the Anglican Communion, an altar or sanctus bell is typically a small hand-held bell or set of bells. The primary reason for the use of sanctus/altar bell is to create a joyful noise to the Lord as a...
. In the 19th century most of the old stained glass was removed, although fragments remain in the chancel windows. The stained glass in the east window is by William Wailes
William Wailes
William Wailes, , was the proprietor of one of England’s largest and most prolific stained glass workshops.- Biographical :Wailes was born and grew up in Newcastle on Tyne, England’s centre of domestic glass and bottle manufacturing. His first business was as a grocer and tea merchant...
.
In the chancel are four tombs of members of the Fitton (Fytton) family. The oldest is an altar tomb to Francis Fytton dated 1608. On the top of the tomb is his recumbent bearded effigy
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...
and beneath him is a skeleton. Opposite is the monument to Dame Alice Fitton who died around 1626. In front of her seated effigy are effigies of her two sons kneeling, and behind her are figures of her two daughters, also kneeling. Adjacent is the tomb of Sir Edward Fitton, 1st baronet, and his wife Anne, who died in 1619 and 1644 respectively. In front of the tomb are the keeling figures of their three sons and seven daughters. One of the daughters was Mary
Mary Fitton
Mary Fitton was the daughter of Sir Edward Fitton of Gawsworth, Cheshire and Alice Halcroft, and is considered by some to be the "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets. Her elder sister, Anne, married John Newdigate in 1587, at the age of fourteen...
, a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
and a candidate for the "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets
Shakespeare's sonnets
Shakespeare's sonnets are 154 poems in sonnet form written by William Shakespeare, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. All but two of the poems were first published in a 1609 quarto entitled SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS.: Never before imprinted. Sonnets 138 and 144...
. The fourth tomb is to the memory of Sir Edward Fitton, 2nd baronet, who died in 1643, and his first wife Jane.
The two-manual
Manual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
organ was built by Nicholson and Lord of Walsall in 1895, obscuring the southwest window. In 1917 it was enlarged by Hayter and Son of Letchworth, obscuring the west window. In 1961 the organ was rebuilt and divided by Cyril Wood of Ashton-under-Lyne to reveal the west window. The ring
Ring of bells
"Ring of bells" is a term most often applied to a set of bells hung in the English style, typically for change ringing...
consists of eight bells. Six of there were cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
, one by Charles and George Mears in 1856, the other five by Mears and Stainbank in 1890. The other two bells were cast by John Taylor and Company in 1907. The parish register
Parish register
A parish register is a handwritten volume, normally kept in a parish church or deposited within a county record office or alternative archive repository, in which details of baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded.-History:...
s date from 1557.
External features
A pair of 18th-century gatepiers at the entrance of the churchyard are listed Grade II. On their fronts are carvings of skull and crossbones. In the churchyard is a 15th or 16th-century cross base in sandstone ashlarAshlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
. It consists of a square cross base and an octagonal shaft on a stepped plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
. A 20th-century wooden circular cross has been set on the shaft.