St Chad's Church, Over

St Chad’s Church stands in the town of Winsford, Cheshire, beside the older hamlet of Over. The building began as a 14th-century nave and chancel with narrow aisles, later enlarged by local gentry and restored in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The red sandstone walls and lead roof show both Perpendicular and Decorated styles, while a tall west tower marks the entrance. A south porch projects on two storeys, and a small chapel occupies the east end of each aisle. The churchyard is enclosed by listed sandstone walls and gate piers. The church is worth visiting for its layered history and the craftsmen who shaped it. Hugh Starkie, a gentleman usher to Henry VIII, paid for the south aisle in 1543. In 1870 Ewan Christian and W. Milford Teulon carried out a major restoration, and from 1897 the Lancaster architects Austin and Paley added vestries and an organ chamber. John Douglas widened the north aisle in 1904, and Austin and Paley raised seating by 56 places soon after. The present ring of eight bells was cast in 1915 by John Taylor and Company. Inside, the porch holds a lavish stoup and Starkie’s tomb in the sanctuary. The octagonal font dates from 1641, and a decorated Saxon stone with a brass effigy lies in the chancel. Fragments of medieval glass survive in a north window, and three aisle windows are by Kempe. The Jardine organ of 1916 was rebuilt in 1987. In the churchyard stands an octagonal cross base from about 1543, and the surrounding walls are Grade II listed.