St Bartholomew's Church, Church Minshull

St Bartholomew's Church, Church Minshull
Tower and west end of St Bartholomew's Church, Church Minshull
St Bartholomew's Church, Church Minshull Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°08′29″N 2°30′02″W / 53.1415°N 2.5005°W / 53.1415; -2.5005
OS grid reference	SJ 666 606
Location	Church Minshull, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Bartholomew, Church Minshull
History
Dedication	Saint Bartholomew
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	12 January 1967
Architect(s)	Walter Boden
Architectural type	Church
Style	Neoclassical
Specifications
Materials	Brick with stone dressings Slate and lead roof
Administration
Parish	Church Minshull
Deanery	Nantwich
Archdeaconry	Macclesfield
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Laity
Organist(s)	Audrey Colquhoun, Ruth Edge
Churchwarden(s)	John Headon, Chris Challoner
Parish administrator	Lynn Penny

St Bartholomew's Church is in the village of Church Minshull, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the deanery of Nantwich. Its benefice is combined with those of St Mary, Acton, St David, Wettenhall, and St Oswald, Worleston.

It is possible that a Saxon church was originally on the site. This was replaced in 1541 by a timber framed church which in 1572 contained at least 50 coats of arms of the local nobility, either depicted in the stained glass or painted on the walls. In 1667 a storm damaged the roof and the west wall. At the beginning of the following century the tower partially collapsed and it was rebuilt in 1702. The rest of the church was still in a dangerous condition and it was rebuilt in 1720. A clock was added to the tower in 1722. There were fires in the church in 1798 and 1804 which led to a restoration in 1861. Further fires occurred in 1874 and 1885. In 1891 there was another restoration of the church, by Walter Boden. The previous internal alterations had weakened the structure of the church and in 2000 it was declared to be unsafe. A major restoration of the roof took place in 2002. During 2007 the tower roof was restored and the parapet rebuilt.

The church is constructed of brick with stone dressings. It is believed that the stone pillars inside the church are from the previous building. The exterior walls are of locally-made brick, and the quoins and finials were made of stone from a quarry at Manley near Macclesfield. The plan of the church consists of a three-bay nave with a choir. At the east end is a shallow apse. The tower, in neoclassical style, is at the west end. The date 1702 is picked out in glazed bricks on the tower, either side of the clock face. On its west face are two round headed windows, one above the other. On the south face is a clock which is balanced by stained glass bull's eye windows in the other faces. Above these are louvred two-light belfry windows. At the top of the tower is an ogee cornice and a parapet with ball-topped finials at the corners. Over the north and south doors are bull's eye windows. The nave and chancel windows are round headed. Above these is a cornice and a solid red brick parapet, interrupted by ball-topped pilasters over each window on the south side. Externally on the east wall is a 17th-century slate armorial memorial.