St Mary's Church, Hale

St Mary’s Church stands at the end of Church End in Hale, a village in Cheshire within the Halton district. The building is a Grade II listed Anglican church, part of the deanery of Widnes and the diocese of Liverpool. Its tower dates from the 14th century, while the rest of the church was rebuilt in 1758–59 after an earlier structure on the site was replaced. The church has seen restorations in 1874 and 1903, including the addition of a northwest vestry. In 1977 a serious fire destroyed much of the interior, leaving only the walls and tower standing. The church’s exterior is built from red sandstone ashlar with a slate roof, arranged in a rectangular plan with five bays. The west tower has corner buttresses and a crenellated parapet, while round-headed windows line the sides of the nave. The east window is Venetian in style, with a cherub carved into its keystone. Inside, the roof from 1979–80 is panelled in varnished chestnut and heavily moulded. The west organ gallery, supported by Tuscan columns, is a replica of the original destroyed in the fire. The churchyard contains the grave of John Middleton, known as the ‘Childe of Hale’, said to have been over nine feet tall. It also holds war graves for four soldiers from the First World War and two from the Second. The tower houses a ring of eight bells, six of which are steel castings by Naylor, Vickers and Co., with the two smallest made of bronze by Eijsbouts in 1987.