Building record 1563/1/1 - Church of St Michael

Church of St Michael & All Angels, Market Place. Consecrated in 1278 by Eleanor, wife of the future Edward I when he was Earl of Chester and dedicated to All Hallows. The medieval church consisted of a nave (now the south aisle) and chancel. The west tower originates in C15 and the body of the church was rebuilt 1739-40 and again in 1898-1901 by Sir Arthur Blomfield. There are two late medieval chapels. The blocked west window was the original east window of the Legh chapel, which was founded c.1422 and rebuilt in 1620. The Savage chapel was built by Thomas Savage, Archbishop of York, between 1501 and 1507. Two bays with a three-storeyed porch.This was a chantry chapel with an endowment for a priest to say masses for the founder. It contains the best set of recumbent effigies within the County,which show the rise of the Savage family, in C15 and C16. Also,the Pardon Brass of Roger Legh 1506 & in the south aisle is a canopied monument to Earl Rivers 1696. Major rebuilding in 1898-1901 pulled down not the medieval church but its successor of 1739-40. The tower formerly had a wooden spire which was removed in 1740. Only in C19 did this church become a parish church, formerly it was a chapel of ease in Prestbury (1), (2) & (3). A recent thorough description of the building and its history was undertaken by Audrey Turner. She describes the evidence for an anchorite, Joan Hythe, walled into the Savage Chapel tower in 1509 (7).

<1> Pevsner N & Hubbard E, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire, /265-267 (Book). SCH3078.

<2> Turner, RC, 1985, Notes on Medieval Macclesfield (Unpublished Report). SCH2286.

<3> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /1/16 (Report). SCH1934.

<4> Richards R, 1947, Old Cheshire Churches, Richards R 1947 /205-212 (Book). SCH2309.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ97SW12/1962 (Index). SCH2487.

<6> Earwaker, J P, 1877-1880, East Cheshire Past & Present, 2/1880/487-511 (Y) (Book). SCH1080.

<7> Turner A, 1987, St Michael's (and all Angels) Parish Church (Unpublished Document). SCH2984.

<8> Bond M J G, Macclesfield Parish Church - Guide (Book). SCH2064.

<9> Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Revised List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, Borough of Macclesfield 1994/ 99 (Unpublished Report). SCH4570.