Monument record 1516/1/1 - Church of St Mary the Virgin

<1> Richards R, 1947, Old Cheshire Churches, Richards R 1947, p.63-4 (Book). SCH2309.

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Leek Rd. Formerly a Chapel of Ease to Prestbury Church. Original structure pre 1400 was timber framed nave and chancel with a stone tower. In 1777 the half-timbered chapel was taken down and the present building erected, incorporating the C16 tower.

<2> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, Vol 1, p.7 (Report). SCH1934.

Present building is tower c.1500, nave 1777, chancel 1834. Tower red sandstone, nave and chancel brick with roofs of slates. Tower of three stages has C19 boarded west door in medieval arch, diagonal buttresses with tooled quoins above, roughly-squared rubble walls. Top 6ft and battlements are of 1879-9. Four-bay nave and one-bay chancel. Coped E gable to nave with kneelers and crocketed finial; hipped chancel. Interior: Queen post trusses to nave, partly of oak, plaster walls. Good mid C17 oak pulpit; parish chest probably late C16. Six bells of which three C17 & C18, with inscriptions. Full architectural description.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ96NW1/1964 (Index). SCH2487.

<4> Aeon Archaeology, 2021, St Mary’s Church, Leek Old Road, Bosley, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 0NX: Archaeological Watching Brief, R4494 (Client Report). SCH8984.

In 2020-2021, an archaeological watching brief was undertaken during the groundworks associated with the erection of a new extension and the replacement of drains at St Mary’s Church. During the archaeological watching brief a total of 90 disarticulated human bone fragments were recovered from the graveyard soil and subsequently reburied on site following completion of excavation. In addition, a post-medieval stone-capped brick culvert was encountered during the excavation of the foundation trench for the extension and a small assemblage consisting of four sherds of post-medieval pottery, dating from the late-18th to early-20th centuries, was recovered during excavation of the sump.