St Michael's Church, Macclesfield

St Michael and All Angels Church, Macclesfield
St Michael's Church, Macclesfield, from the west
St Michael and All Angels Church, Macclesfield Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°15′37″N 2°07′28″W / 53.2603°N 2.1244°W / 53.2603; -2.1244
OS grid reference	SJ 917 737
Location	Macclesfield, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Michael's, Macclesfield
History
Dedication	Saint Michael
Consecrated	1278
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	14 April 1949
Architect(s)	Arthur Blomfield
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic, Gothic Revival
Completed	1901
Specifications
Materials	Red sandstone Stone-flagged roof
Administration
Parish	The Macclesfield Team Parish
Deanery	Macclesfield
Archdeaconry	Macclesfield
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Clergy
Rector	vacant
Laity
Reader(s)	Fran Hiles, Mike Strutt, Lynne Spedding
Parish administrator	Sue Reid

St Michael and All Angels Church overlooks Market Place in the town of Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Macclesfield. It forms a team parish with three other Macclesfield churches: All Saints, St Peter's and St Barnabas'. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

A church has been on the site since the 13th century. There have been two major reconstructions, the last being in 1898–1901. Two ancient chapels remain dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. Inside the church are a number of tombs and memorials, mainly to the memory of the Savage and Legh families.

The first church on this site was a chapel built around 1220, soon after the borough of Macclesfield was established. Around 1278 it was extended or rebuilt by Queen Eleanor, wife of Edward I and dedicated to All Saints or All Hallows. A chapel, known as the Legh chapel was built around 1442 for Sir Piers Legh who fought and died at the Battle of Agincourt. Between 1505 and 1507 the Savage Chapel, a larger chantry chapel, was built by Thomas Savage, Archbishop of York from 1501 to 1507.

There have since been a number of reconstructions of the church. In 1739–40 it was rebuilt in neoclassical style and at this time it is likely that the church was rededicated to Saint Michael. In 1740 the wooden tower was taken down because it was considered dangerous. In 1819 the east end was rebuilt and a new chancel added. The last major rebuilding was in 1898–1901 by Arthur Blomfield when the whole church, other than part of the chancel and the Legh and Savage chapels, were replaced.