St Mary Magdalene's Church, Alsager

St Mary Magdalene’s Church stands on Crewe Road in Alsager, Cheshire. It is an active Anglican parish church designed by Hubert Austin in 1884 and built between 1894 and 1896 by the Lancaster firm Austin and Paley. The building replaced a small iron church that was sold for £150 and moved to Hassall Green. The church was completed in stages, with the north aisle finished in 1936–37 under Henry Paley. Plans for a taller tower and spire were never realised. Today it is listed as a Grade II building on the National Heritage List for England. The church is built from red sandstone with tiled roofs and features a nave, north and south aisles, and a west tower. The tower has diagonal buttresses and a semi-octagonal stair turret. A four-light window marks the west side, while the south porch displays a statue of Mary Magdalene above the doorway. The exterior includes Decorated-style tracery in the windows, with five two-light windows along the clerestory. The east window has six lights, and the chancel’s south wall holds three two-light windows. Inside, five-bay arcades separate the nave from the aisles, carried on elliptical piers. The chancel’s north side has a two-bay arcade, and its south wall contains a sedilia and piscina. The 1926 reredos and chancel screen add to the interior’s character. The square font has chamfered corners, and stained glass includes works by G. P. Hutchinson, Karl Parsons, and Heaton, Butler and Bayne. The organ, built in 1905, was altered over the decades by Rushworth and Dreaper, and later by Ward and Shutt.