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St Mary's Church, Lymm

Coordinates:53°22′38″N2°28′42″W/ 53.3771°N 2.4784°W/53.3771; -2.4784
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St Mary's Church, Lymm
St Mary's Church, Lymm, from the south
St Mary's Church, Lymm is located in Cheshire
St Mary's Church, Lymm
St Mary's Church, Lymm
Location in Cheshire
53°22′38″N2°28′42″W/ 53.3771°N 2.4784°W/53.3771; -2.4784
OS grid referenceSJ 683 868
LocationLymm,Borough of Warrington,Cheshire
CountryEngland
DenominationAnglican
WebsiteSt Mary's Lymm
History
StatusParish church
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Heritage designationGrade II
Designated24 January 1950
Architect(s)John Dobson,
John Douglas
J. S. Crowther
Architectural typeChurch
StyleGothic Revival
Completed1890
Specifications
MaterialsBuffsandstone
Administration
ProvinceYork
DioceseChester
ArchdeaconryChester
DeaneryGreat Budworth
ParishLymm
Clergy
RectorRev Beverley Jameson
Laity
Reader(s)Ian Bundey,
Derek Buckthorpe,
Heulwen Smith
Churchwarden(s)Liz France,
George (Mark) Bainton
Parish administratorCarol Roberts

St Mary's Churchis theAnglican parish churchofLymm,Warrington,Cheshire,England, standing on a bank overlookingLymm Dam.It is a grade IIlisted building.[1]It is an active church in thediocese of Chester,the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Great Budworth.[2]

History

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TheDomesday Bookshows that a church was on the site in the 11th century. Since then it has been rebuilt a number of times.[3]The present church was built in 1850–52 to a design byJohn DobsonofNewcastle.[1]Thenaveandaislesfrom an older church dating from the 15th century were blown up withgunpowderprior to the rebuilding.[4]Alterations and additions were made to the church in 1870–72 by theChesterarchitectJohn Douglas,including an organ chamber and thereredos.[5]The tower was replaced in 1888–90 byJ. S. Crowther.[1]

Architecture

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Exterior

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The church is built in buffsandstone.Its plan consists of a west tower, a five-baynavewith aclerestory,north and southaisles,a north porch,transepts,achancel,and avestry.The tower is in three stages with diagonalbuttressesand anembattledtop. Its west window is inPerpendicularstyle, and the bell-openings are paired with paneltracery.[1]

Interior

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The chancel has a panelled ceiling, and the transepts contain galleries.[1]The plainpulpitis dated 1623. The stonesediliaandpiscinaare inDecoratedstyle, date from 1871 to 1872, and were designed by John Douglas. Thefontis octagonal and dates probably from the 1660s. The church contains anogee-headed tomb recess dating from about 1322 that has been moved from the older church. It contains a "supposed"Romanaltar. On the walls are twosgraffiti,one in the south aisle dated 1883, and the other in the north aisle, dated 1906. The stained glass in the west window is dated 1853, and is possibly by David Evans; the glass in the east window is from 1865. Three windows in the south aisle, dated 1851, are byWailes.One window in the north aisle, dating from 1897 is byKempe,and another, dating from about 1899, is probably byShrigley and Hunt.[6]

Memorials in the church include one to John Leigh, ofOughtrington Hall,who died in 1806, and his wife who died in 1819, and two tablets byE. H. Bailyin the south transept to members of the Fox family who died between 1830 and 1845.[6]There is also a wooden memorial to William Domvylle (ofLymm Hall) who died in 1686. Lymm's parish registers, now housed atCheshire Record Office,provide records of the inhabitants of Lymm since theReformation,including notable local families such as theBooths.Also in the church are 18th-centuryhatchments,and twochurchwardens' staves dating from the early 19th century.[7]The previouspipe organwas built in 1858 by Forster and Andrews, and rebuilt in 1944 by Jardine.[8]The presentelectronic organ,built by the local organ-builderHugh Banton,was installed in 2005.[9]There is aringof eight bells which were cast in 1891 byJohn Taylor and Company.[10]

External features

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The churchyard contains the war graves of twelve service personnel, nine ofWorld War Iand three ofWorld War II.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdeHistoric England,"Church of St Mary the Virgin, Lymm (1226650)",National Heritage List for England,retrieved5 August2012
  2. ^St Mary the Virgin, Lymm,Church of England,retrieved13 January2011
  3. ^History of Lymm Dam: St Mary's Church,Warrington Borough Council,retrieved18 January2008
  4. ^Salter, Mark (1995),The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire,Malvern: Folly Publications, p. 45,ISBN1-871731-23-2
  5. ^Hubbard, Edward(1991),The Work of John Douglas,London:The Victorian Society,pp. 242–243,ISBN0-901657-16-6
  6. ^abHartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew;Hubbard, Edward;Pevsner, Nikolaus(2011) [1971],Cheshire,The Buildings of England, New Haven and London:Yale University Press,p. 447,ISBN978-0-300-17043-6
  7. ^Morant, Roland W. (1989),Cheshire Churches,Birkenhead: Countyvise, p. 148,ISBN0-907768-18-0
  8. ^"NPOR [J00085]",National Pipe Organ Register,British Institute of Organ Studies,retrieved30 June2020
  9. ^Kingsnorth, Stephen (28 April 2005),"By the Rev. Stephen Kingsnorth",Knutsford Guardian
  10. ^Lymm S Mary,Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers,retrieved14 August2008
  11. ^LYMM (ST. MARY) CHURCHYARD,Commonwealth War Graves Commission,retrieved3 February2013