St Cross Church, Knutsford

St Cross Church, Knutsford
St Cross Church, Knutsford, from the southeast
St Cross Church, Knutsford Location in Cheshire
OS grid reference	SJ 756,786
Location	Knutsford, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Cross, Knutsford
History
Status	Parish church
Dedication	Holy Cross
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	15 January 1974
Architect(s)	Paley and Austin
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Specifications
Materials	Brick with terracotta dressings and stone parapet Roof of red tiles and lead
Administration
Province	York
Diocese	Chester
Archdeaconry	Macclesfield
Deanery	Knutsford
Parish	St Cross, Cross Town
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Rev Paul Deakin
Laity
Churchwarden(s)	Judith Broughton, Grahame Nairn

St Cross Church is in the town of Knutsford, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, in the deanery of Knutsford, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. It is an active Anglican parish church, with two services every Sunday, a midweek Eucharist each Wednesday, and Morning Prayer most weekdays. The Parish Electoral Roll is 140, and about sixty people attend Sunday morning services.

History

The original church was dedicated in February 1858. The main part of the present church was built between 1880 and 1881 to a design by the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin. The tower was finished in 1887, and the church was completed in 1889 with the addition of the aisles. The final total cost was £7,580 (equivalent to £1,060,000 in 2023). The vestries were enlarged in 1906 by the successors in the practice, Austin and Paley.

Architecture

Exterior

It is built in brick with terracotta dressings in Perpendicular style. The roof is in red tiles and lead. Its plan consists of a nave with north and south aisles, a tower at the crossing, and a chancel with north and south chapels. A two-storey vestry is on the south, and a porch is to the west of the north aisle. The tower is in three stages with a four-light Decorated style window above which is a terracotta frieze. In the second stage are small square windows. The upper stage contains two-light bell openings and a blind traceried frieze. The parapet is of stone with pinnacles at the angles and in the centre of each side.

Interior

Inside the church the north arcade has three bays, and the south arcade has two bays with the vestry occupying the western bay. The chancel screen and pulpit are both made from traceried timber. The organ occupies the chapel to the south of the chancel. On the south chancel wall is a sedilia with heavy terracotta Perpendicular tracery. In a wooden case on a pier of the south nave arcade is a low relief bronze sculpture dated 1607 depicting the Deposition from the Cross. Two of the stained glass windows were designed by Burne-Jones and made by Morris & Co. The west window is dated 1893 and depicts the Adoration of the Magi. The easternmost window in the south aisle is dated 1899 and shows the Good Samaritan.

See also

• Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire East
• Listed buildings in Knutsford
• List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin

References

Citations

Sources

• Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, ISBN 978-1-84802-049-8
• Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; Hubbard, Edward; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6

External links

• History of St Cross