The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Eccleston

For Church Services please click on the link below

 www.ecclestonstmary-chester.org.uk

A Short History

A church was certainty in existence in 1188 but the name Eccleston, from the Celtic ‘Elgea’, implies a very early British settlement with an organised Christian worship. A late 18th century print exists of a dilapidated Church which obviously dates back to the 14th century. This was replaced in 1809 by one of similar size and the South wall of its nave remains in the old Churchyard.

The present building is the third Church to have been built. It is said that High Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, approached on of the leading architects in the land, G. F. Bodley, and asked him to build a Cathedral at Eccleston. On being told that one already existed a few miles away at Chester, the Duke replied, then build me a small one’. Whether or not the story in true, a splendid Church in early English style was built of local sandstone.

There can be few examples in the country of a Church which has remained virtually unchanged since the architect designed and built it a century ago. Almost everything, including the furnishings and fittings by Watts of Baker Street, London, are as they were when the Church was consecrated on Ascension Day, 1900.

The Grosvenor family, of nearby Eaton Hall, has for centuries been connected with Eccleston; but they did not become patrons until 1758. The Churchwardens’ Accounts note, ‘…for washing ye serples more than Comon against Lord Grosvenor Come to Church 1/-…’

A complete set of records begins in 1592, together with Churchwarden and Constable accounts. They are deposited in the County Records Office, Chester and have been transcribed and indexed.

The Grosvenor family interest and involvement is summed up in a memorial window by the South-West door, below which is inscribed on a brass plate, ‘Remember Hugh Lupus, 1st Duke of Westminster, who caused the Church of St Mary to be built’. The magnificent early 18th century entrance gates were originally at Emrall Hall, Flintshire, and were made by the skilled Davies Bros. of Wrexham. They were placed here as a memorial to the 2nd Duke by the Parochial Church Council and parishioners following his death in 1953.

In the quiet of the old Churchyard are many interesting graves; perhaps the most charming is that of a young Earl Grosvenor who died in 1909, aged just four. A bronze enclosure with ornate openings, it has figures of King Edward the Confessor, St. George and St. Hugh of Lincoln.

Inside The Church

The Font is of Thessaly marble and is surrounded by a high oak cover on which is carved figures of eight saints, the four Evangelists, together with St. Stephen, St. John the Baptist, St. George and St. Lawrence.

The tower contains one of the finest sets of eight bells in the country, cast by John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough.

Hanging over the baptistery is all that remains of a Grosvenor Memorial dated 1624 from the old Church. Beneath it there rested the recumbent figure of Sir Richard and one of his three wives surrounded by 24 of the children his ‘virtuous wives’ bore him. During the Civil War, when Parliamentary forces besieging Chester occupied Eccleston, the figures were badly damaged, and when the Church was taken down in 1807, only this fragment was retained.

The stained glass throughout the Church is the work of Burlison and Grylls. In the North aisle the windows portray the Prophets, Priests, Kings and Martyrs of the Faith; whilst in the South aisle they depict the Saints and symbols of the four nations of the United Kingdom. In the Clerestory a Chorus Angelorum holds a continuous scroll inscribed with the Magnificat beneath them. The coat of arms remember families connected with the Grosvenors.

The beautifully carved stonework and the bosses in the roof can best be studied when the hidden lighting is used.

Picture

The Grosvenor chapel has three carved figures above the altar. In the centre Our Lord, and on either side the first Archbishops of Canterbury and York, St. Augustine and St. Paulinus. Here are the memorials to five Dukes of Westminster. Above the tomb and canopy of the First Duke, carved in alabaster and designed by Bodley, hangs his garter banner. Opposite is a bronze bust, by Gilbert Ledward, of the second Duke. ‘Bend Or’, the memorial to Gerald, Forth Duke, was designed by his brother, Robert, Fifth Duke who died in 1979. There is a fine bronze relief-memorial to Captain Hugh William Grosvenor, who was killed in the First World War.

The Organ, built by Grey and Davidson, was originally placed high over the tower arch but is now more usefully situated at the end of the North aisle. Both the pulpit steps and floor are of marble from the ancient quarries in Thessaly, but the pulpit and intricate screen are carved from the finest English oak.

The superbly carved and gilded reredos, by Farmers & Brindley, depicts the Crucifixion and Passion, while the window above has five scenes from the life of the Virgin. In the centre light is St. Michael, and above, Our Lord in Majesty. In the side lights are the Apostles, Peter and Paul; the Prophets, Moses and David and the Martyrs, Stephen and Alban. To complete the Te Deum Laudamus, and representing the Holy Church, are two Saints with local connections, Anselm and Werburgh.

List of Rectors

1300 Johannes De Vanables

1304 Ricardus De Vernon

1310 Robertus De Dutton

1328 Willms De Wovers

1329 Hugo De Dutton Dns.

1343 Hugo De Derby

1355 Walt’us Dammary

1363 Rogus Le Paue Dns.

1371 Ric De Eccleston

1393 Ricus Teyerold

1435 Ricardus Dutton Dns.

1438 Johem Holme

1443 Thomas Clerk

1473 Robertus Thorley

1500 Ricardus Rawlynson

1524 Hugo Powell Dns.

1541 Richard Leyton

1583 William Wright

1616 William Harrison

1625 Alexander Clarke

1670 William Bispham A.M.

1685 Ralph Lowndes

1690 Henry Wigley A.M.

1701 Samuel Tilley A.M.

1704 Thomas Aubrey A.B.

1758 Robert Massie A.M.

1776 Charles Mytton

1801 Charles Mytton, M.A.

1832 Richard Massie, M.A.

1854 John Gibbons Longueville, M.A.

1880 George Robins, M.A.

1906 Michael Kinloch, M.A.

1912 Clement Eustace Marco Wilson, M.A.

1922 Arthur Gascoigne Child, M.A.

1925 Frank Jackson Okell, M.A.

1936 Douglas Walter Hobson, M.A.

1948 Charles Musgrave, M.A.

1952 Winston Gordon Hurlow, M.A.

1957 Eric Bertram Jones, T.D., M.A.

1972 Lawrence Rainald Skipper, M.A.

1982 Frederick Hugh Linn, M.A.

1998 Jonathan Bertram Lumby, M.A.

2006 Ian Thomas, M.A.

To see more photographs visit the Eccleston Village Photo Gallery.

For further information e-mail thechurch@ecclestonvillage.co.uk.