St Mary's Church, Nether Alderley

St Mary's Church, Nether Alderley
St Mary's Church, Nether Alderley, from the south in 2008
St Mary's Church, Nether Alderley Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°16′55″N 2°14′20″W / 53.2820°N 2.2389°W / 53.2820; -2.2389
OS grid reference	SJ 842 761
Location	Nether Alderley, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Mary's Church
History
Dedication	St Mary
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	14 April 1967
Architect(s)	Cuffley and Starkey Paley and Austin (Restorations)
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic
Specifications
Materials	Buff and red sandstone Kerridge stone-slate roof
Administration
Parish	Alderley
Deanery	Knutsford
Archdeaconry	Macclesfield
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Laity
Churchwarden(s)	Michael Penlington, Peter Reynolds, Jenny Youatt
Parish administrator	Ken Wilkinson

St Mary's Church is an Anglican church at the end of a lane to the south of the village of Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England. It dates from the 14th century, with later additions and a major restoration in the late-19th century. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

The church was built in the Gothic style, and has historically been associated with the Stanley family of Alderley. Its major features include a fine tower, the Stanley pew which is entered by an outside staircase, a 14th-century font, the western gallery, and monuments to the Lords Stanley of Alderley. The grounds contain a 17th-century former schoolhouse, now used as a parish hall, a medieval church cross, and the Stanley Mausoleum, which dates from 1909. An ancient yew tree stands in the churchyard.

St Mary's is an active parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the deanery of Knutsford. Its benefice is combined with that of St Catherine's, Birtles.

The oldest parts of the church date from around 1300, but it is likely that a timber-framed church existed on the site before then. The church's original dedication was to Saint Lawrence, but that was later changed to Saint Mary. A clerestory was added in the 15th century. The tower was built in 1530, and the Stanley pew was added in about 1600. The west gallery, which contained an organ, was installed in 1803. In 1856, the chancel was completely rebuilt, to a design by Cuffley and Starkey, paid for by the Stanley family. The vestry was constructed in 1860. The church was restored between 1877 and 1878 by Paley and Austin; the nave floor was lowered, the pulpit was replaced, plaster was removed from the roof and the walls, and the box pews were replaced by new oak pews. The tower clock, made in 1743, was renovated in 1997. In 2000, the 16th-century wooden bell-frame was strengthened by the addition of a steel frame, and the Stanley pew was restored.