Description

MACCLESFIELD

SJ9173NW CHESTER ROAD
886-1/9/42 (South side)
17/03/77 Church of St Alban
(Formerly Listed as:
CHESTER ROAD
(South side)
Roman Catholic Church of St Alban)

GV II*

Roman Catholic church. Designed 1838; built 1839-41. By Augustus
Welby Northmore Pugin. Coursed and squared rubble with ashlar
dressings and Welsh slate roof.
PLAN: unfinished west tower, nave with high clerestorey and 2
aisles, chancel. Perpendicular style. West tower unfinished.
EXTERIOR: deeply moulded west doorway with 5-light window
above, stilted arched light in upper stage flanked by statues
in niches. Clasping buttresses and stair turret in SE angle.
Nave with steep roof over clerestorey. Lean-to aisles, the
south aisle divided by buttresses, and with gabled porch with
shafts to deeply moulded archway. North aisle and projecting
confessional booths concealed behind presbytery. Statue in
niche over south doorway. Angel corbels across the western
angles of the aisles carry statues in traceried niches clasped
between buttresses. Shallow chancel with 4-light windows north
and south, and 7-light east window. All gables coped with
cross finials. Single storey vestry in NE angle.
INTERIOR: 5-bay arcade, with very slender and lofty clustered
shafts carrying Perpendicular arches. 10-window clerestorey,
each window of 2-lights. King post and collar roof with arched
braces and wind braces. Tall Perpendicular arches to west
tower and chancel, painted. Choir gallery and organ loft in
tower. Open-work chancel screen carrying rood. High chancel
has coloured tiled floor and ornate altar piece with advanced
central statue in aedicule over tabernacle, forming centre
piece of altar with 12 figures of saints each side. Traceried
sedilia to south. Stained glass in east window, a central
figure, the rest emblematic.
Chapel to SE with painted Perpendicular arch and wall painted
with stencilled monograms and emblems to dado height. Altar
piece with statue in niche flanked by high relief panels
depicting scenes from the Life of Mary. Stained glass in
window above, also dedicated to the Life of Mary. Painted text
as hoodmould to window.
Altar recessed at east end of N aisle, with 3 statues in
traceried niches set beneath a small high window with stained
glass. Pulpit added 1850 by Edward Welby Pugin, square in plan
with traceried panels and statues in niches at angles.
A church of exceptional interest among the works of this major
architect.
(Buildings of England: Hubbard E: Cheshire: Harmondsworth).

Listing NGR: SJ9116073662

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Alban's Church, Macclesfield at Wikipedia
• St Alban's Church, Macclesfield official website
• Wikidata Q7592239

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability