St George's Church, Poynton

St George's Church, Poynton
St George's Church, Poynton St George's Church, Poynton
St George's Church, Poynton Location in Cheshire
OS grid reference	SJ 919 836
Location	Poynton, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St George, Poynton
History
Dedication	Saint George
Consecrated	February 1859
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	17 November 1983
Architect(s)	J. S. Crowther J. Medland Taylor and Henry Taylor (steeple)
Specifications
Spire height	133 feet 10 inches (40.8 m)
Materials	Stone, slate roofs
Administration
Parish	St George, Poynton
Deanery	Cheadle
Archdeaconry	Macclesfield
Diocese	Chester
Province	York
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Robert Ian McLaren
Curate(s)	Revd Paul Cumming Revd Andy Livingston Revd Lesley Cummins
Laity
Churchwarden(s)	Joyce Corlett Valerie Vibrans
Parish administrator	Alan Goode

St George's Church stands in the centre of the town of Poynton, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Cheadle, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It is the tallest building in Poynton.

History

The original church in the town was a chapel of ease to St Peter, Prestbury, and was in existence by 1312. The present church was built in 1858–59 on a site nearer to the town centre to a design by J. S. Crowther. It was consecrated in February 1859 by the bishop of Chester. It became a separate parish in its own right in 1871. The steeple, designed by J. Medland Taylor and Henry Taylor, was added in 1884–85. In 1998 the interior of the church was re-ordered.

Architecture

Exterior

St George's is constructed in yellow rubble stone from the Hig Lane quarry, and has dressings in stone from Lyme Handley. It is roofed in slate. The plan consists of a nave with a six-bay clerestory, north and south five-bay aisles, a south porch, a chancel, and a steeple at the southeast corner. The tower has buttresses and an octagonal stair turret, and is surmounted by a broached spire with lucarnes. In the top stage are double louvred bell openings. Along the sides of the aisles are two-light windows, and along the clerestory are alternate two-light and circular windows. At the west end of the nave are two narrow lancet windows, above which is a sexfoil rose window. The east window has four lights containing Geometric tracery.

Interior

Inside the church is a three-bay arcade carried on octagonal piers. In the chancel are a stone sedilia and piscina. The stained glass in the east and southeast windows is by O'Connor (probably Arthur). At the east end of the north aisle is a window dating from about 1866 by John Adam Heaton. A window in the southwest of the church dating from about 1935 was designed by Edwin Wright, and commemorates the Mothers' Union. The two-manual organ was built in 1972 by Smethurst of Manchester, replacing a three-manual 19th-century organ by Nicholson and Lord that had been rebuilt by Austin Jones of Pendleton in 1925. There is a ring of six bells, all cast in 1887 by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough. There is a further, unused, bell dating from 1835 by Thomas Mears II at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

External features

The churchyard contains the war graves of ten British service personnel, three of World War I and seven of World War II.

See also

• Listed buildings in Poynton with Worth
• List of works by J. S. Crowther