St Mary's Church, Eccleston

St Mary's Church, Eccleston
St Mary's Church, Eccleston, from the south
St Mary's Church, Eccleston
Coordinates: 53°09′27″N 2°52′46″W / 53.1576°N 2.8794°W / 53.1576; -2.8794
OS grid reference	SJ 412 626
Location	Eccleston, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Mary, Eccleston
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	1 June 1967
Architect(s)	G. F. Bodley
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic revival
Completed	1899
Construction cost	£40,000
Specifications
Materials	Red sandstone
Administration
Parish	Eccleston and Pulford
Deanery	Chester
Archdeaconry	Chester
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Clergy
Rector	Rev'd Canon Roger Clarke

St Mary's Church is in the village of Eccleston, Cheshire, England, on the estate of the Duke of Westminster south of Chester. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. Its benefice is combined with that of St Mary, Pulford. The Dukes of Westminster are buried in the adjacent Old Churchyard.

St Mary's Church as it appears today is a red sandstone building which dates from the 19th century. It was built between 1897 and 1899 to a design by G. F. Bodley for the 1st Duke of Westminster at a cost of £40,000 (£4.06 million today). The new church was consecrated on Ascension Day 1900.

The present building is the third parish church to have been built in Eccleston. It stands some 100 metres (330 ft) southwest of the site occupied by its predecessors, which stood in what is known today as the Old Churchyard. A church was certainly in existence in Eccleston in 1188, and in the late 18th century a print was made of a dilapidated medieval church which dates back to the 14th century. The medieval church was entirely replaced in 1809 by one of similar size, built on the site by William Porden for the Earls Grosvenor. A chancel was added in 1853, but by the end of the 19th century the 1st Duke of Westminster decided to replace Porden's church with an entirely new structure. After the new church had been completed, Porden's church was demolished, although the south wall of its nave was retained as a "picturesque feature" and remains in the Old Churchyard.