St Luke's Church, Holmes Chapel

St Luke’s Church stands beside the A50 at its meeting with the A535 in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. It is a Grade I listed building and an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester. The church occupies a site where a building has existed since the 13th century. The present structure began around 1430 as a timber-framed church with a sandstone west tower. In the early 18th century the nave and chancel were encased in brick, and a west gallery was added as a gift from Thomas Hall. The church’s exterior mixes materials: a sandstone tower, brick nave and chancel, and a Welsh slate roof. The tower has embattled parapets with corner gargoyles and diamond-shaped clock faces on north and south sides. Inside, a 15th-century timber roof was uncovered when a plaster ceiling was removed. Oak panelled galleries from about 1705 contain the organ and box pews. The oldest brass candelabrum in any Cheshire church dates from 1708, and the east window’s stained glass is a 1921 design by Horatio Walter Lonsdale. Visitors find a four-bay nave with north and south aisles, a one-bay chancel with lower roof, and a vestry to the north. The stone font dates from 1890 and the oak pulpit from the 19th century. Wall memorials and monuments include examples from 1715, 1801 and 1836. Six bells hang in the tower, four cast by Richard Sanders in 1709 and two by G. Mears in 1858. The churchyard extension holds the war grave of a soldier from the First World War.