Christ Church, Eaton

Christ Church, Eaton
Christ Church, Eaton, from the southwest
Christ Church, Eaton Location in Cheshire
53.1855°N 2.1965°W / 53.1855; -2.1965
OS grid reference	SJ 870 655
Location	Macclesfield Road, Eaton, Cheshire East
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Christ Church, Eaton
History
Status	Parish church
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	25 October 1985
Architect(s)	Raffles Brown
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1856
Completed	1858
Specifications
Materials	Stone, slate roof
Administration
Province	York
Diocese	Chester
Archdeaconry	Macclesfield
Deanery	Congleton
Parish	Eaton with Hulme Walfield
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Ian Arch

Christ Church is in Macclesfield Road, the A536 road, to the south of the village of Eaton, Cheshire East, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Congleton, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. Its benefice is combined with those of St James and St Paul, Marton, All Saints, Siddington, and Holy Trinity, Capesthorne.^[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.^[2]

History

Christ Church was built between 1856 and 1858 to a design by Raffles Brown. It is described by the authors of the Buildings of England series as a "tiny church ... in fantasy Gothic.^[3]

Architecture

The church is constructed in rubble stone, with ashlar dressings, and has a slate roof. Its plan consists of a four-bay nave, a chancel with a north vestry, a south porch, and a west tower. The tower has angle buttresses, a stair turret at the junction with the nave on the south, a battlemented parapet, and a small pyramidal roof. It is in three stages on a plinth. In the bottom stage is a two-light west window with a sharply pointed arch, containing Decorated tracery. The middle stage contains circular clock faces and, on the north and south sides a narrow rectangular opening below the clock. In the top stage are two lancet bell openings on each side.^[2]

Inside the church is a hammerbeam roof with floral bosses. The stained glass in the northeast window was given by the architect, and made by Forrest and Brownley of Liverpool. There is also a window dated 1969 by Francis Skeat.^[3] There is a ring of three bells. The oldest of these was cast in 1815 by William Dobson; the other two were cast in 1876 by John Taylor & Co.^[4]

External features

The churchyard contains the war grave of a Second World War Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve officer.^[5]

See also

• Listed buildings in Eaton, Cheshire East

References

1. Christ Church, Eaton, Church of England, retrieved 2 March 2012
2. Historic England, "Christ Church, Eaton (1139494)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 2 March 2012
3. Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 344–345, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
4. Eaton, Christ Church, Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers, retrieved 2 March 2012
5. JONES, WALLACE ERNEST, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 3 February 2013