St John the Baptist's Church, Bollington

St John the Baptist's Church, Bollington
St John the Baptist's Church, Bollington, from the southwest (now redundant)
St John the Baptist's Church, Bollington Location in Cheshire
53.2970°N 2.0930°W / 53.2970; -2.0930
OS grid reference	SJ 9390 7778
Location	Church Street, Bollington, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
History
Status	Former parish church
Dedication	St John the Baptist
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	9 December 1983
Architect(s)	William Hayley and Thomas Brown
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1832
Completed	1834
Construction cost	£4,002
Closed	1 February 2006
Specifications
Materials	Sandstone, slate roofs

St John the Baptist's Church is a redundant Anglican parish church in Church Street, Bollington, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.^[1] It was a Commissioners' church, having received a grant towards its construction from the Church Building Commission.^[2] The parish church is now St Oswald's Church, Bollington.

History

The church was built between 1832 and 1834, and was designed by William Hayley and Thomas Brown.^[1] A grant of £3,475 (equivalent to £420,000 in 2023)^[3] was given towards its construction by the Church Building Commission.^[2] The total building cost was £4,002 (equivalent to £490,000 in 2023).^[4] Galleries were added in 1854.^[1] The church was declared redundant on 1 February 2006.^[5]

Architecture

St John's is constructed in hammer-dressed sandstone with ashlar dressings and Welsh slate roofs. Its plan consists of a five-bay nave, a short chancel with a vestry at the east, and a west tower.^[1] The chancel is described as "a mere alcove without an arch".^[4] The tower is in four stages with angle buttresses and a west door. Above the door is a three-light window. The third stage contains clock faces, and in the top stage are two-light louvred bell openings. The parapet is embattled. The bays of the nave are divided by buttresses, each bay containing a two-light window with Y-tracery. The east window of the chancel has three lights. An embattled parapet runs along the top of the nave. At the corners of the nave and the chancel are octagonal buttresses rising to pointed finials.^[1] Inside the church there are galleries on three sides that are supported by thin iron columns.^[1]

The two-manual organ was made in 1836 by Samuel Renn. It was enlarged in 1909 by Nicholson and Lord. Since then, Jardine rebuilt the organ in about 1932, and renovated it in 1980.^[6] The organ has been restored and is now installed at St George's church, Nailsworth (more details can be found on St George's parish website).

The peal of eight bells from St John's were renovated and are now installed at St Thomas's Church at Stockton Heath in Warrington. Two new bells were added and the new peal rang for the first time at St Thomas's on 8 January 2017 at a dedication service conducted by the Bishop of Chester.^[7]

External features

The churchyard contains the war graves of 15 Commonwealth service personnel, 13 from World War I, and two from World War II, most of which are in an extension of the churchyard.^[8] Details of all burials and memorials in the churchyard can be found at the parish website Burials and Memorials.

See also

• List of Commissioners' churches in Northeast and Northwest England
• Listed buildings in Bollington

References

1. Historic England, "Church of St John the Baptist, Bollington (1138997)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 16 December 2011
2. Port, M. H. (2006), 600 New Churches: The Church Building Commission 1818-1856 (2nd ed.), Reading: Spire Books, p. 331, ISBN 978-1-904965-08-4
3. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)", MeasuringWorth, retrieved 7 May 2024
4. Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 165, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
5. Diocese of Chester: All Schemes (PDF), Church Commissioners/Statistics, Church of England, 2010, p. 2, retrieved 16 December 2011
6. Cheshire, Bollington, St. John the Baptist, Church Street (N02114), British Institute of Organ Studies, retrieved 16 December 2011
7. "St John's Bells Ring Out Again!". stoswaldbollington.org.uk. 8 January 2017. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
8. BOLLINGTON (ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST) CHURCHYARD, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 2 February 2013