History & Items of interest

Background Information

St Peter's Church is designated as a Grade 11 listed building by English Heritage.

The design for the church was drawn up by leading London architects, J Slater and R Carpenter who were commissioned by the family of local cotton merchant George Charnley Dewhurst.

Mr Dewhurst was the owner of Oughtrington Hall, a fine Georgian mansion situated opposite the church, and now incorporated into the buildings of Lymm High School.

The benefice of St Peter's is combined with that of St Werburgh's, Warburton. Initially a Chapel of Ease in the parish of St Mary's in Lymm it became a separate parish in 1881.

The church was built in 1871-72 at a cost of £10,000 funded by Mr G C Dewhurst.

In 1932 a Lady Chapel was added to commemorate the Jubilee of the consecration of the church.

It is built in grey, snecked, rubble sandstone with grey slate roofs.

Its plan is a 5-bay nave with clerestory (upper row of windows in the nave wall) in the north and south aisles, an apsidal (arched or vaulted) chancel, a south vestry and south porch.

There is a north-east tower and spire. The tower has a square base over which is an octagonal belfry surrounded by pinnacles and a stone spire.

At the west end is a rose window above 4 lancet windows. The stained glass in the apse (dated 1894) and in the south aisle is by C E Kempe. The stained glass in the west end, (dated 1907) is by A K Nicholson. Both Kempe and Nicholson were leading stained glass producers.

Plan of the church

1. Consecration stone

2. The apse and vaulted roof are said to have been modelled on Westminster Abbey

3. High altar above which are the stained glass windows of C. E. Kempe.

4. In the west end of the church (above the stone font) are the stained glass windows of A. K Nicholson. They were inserted in 1907.

Stained glass windows in memory of:-

5. Althrop Ridgway: son of Emily and Thomas Ridgway. Note the window is marked with the monogram `AKN' for (A K Nicholson).

6. Mary King: the window shows St Elizabeth and John the Baptist.

This is a Kempe window identified by his `wheatsheaf ' mark .

7. Emily and Thomas Ridgway. The two windows show St Francis of Assisi and St Joseph.

8. Marjorie Isabel Hunt (inserted 1921) and showing St Mary.

9. Processional cross in memory of Althrop Ridgway

10. Around the church are the Stations of the Cross given in memory of Norman Artingstall

(1931-1992) by his family.

11. The Lady Chapel

12. Icon of St Peter painted by Vasilis Sirimis from the Greek Island of Rhodes

Facts And Figures

Total interior length: 106'

Width of nave: 49'

Height of nave: 54'

Length of chancel: 40'

Width of chancel: 23'
Height of chancel arch:34'

Height of spire: 140'

Priests in charge of St Peter's while it was still in the Parish of Lymm

1872-1874: Frank Albert Mather

1874-1878: Samuel William Darwin Fox

1878-1881: Joseph Cullin

Rectors of St Peter's from the time that
Oughtrington became an independent Parish

1881-1885: Joseph Cullin

1885-1905: Walker Geary Knocker
1905-1914: Edmund Peel Wethered

1914-1924: George Simon Tudor-Evans

1924-1930: Oliver James Gittins

1930-1950: Thomas Vickers
1950-1954: Norman McGee

1954-1974: George William Nelson Archer

1974-1980: Anthony James Jeynes

1980-1991: William John McKae

1991— Edwin Michael Burgess

Icon of St Peter

The icon was a gift from two worshippers at St Peter's and blessed at a service on December 7 2008.

This icon of St Peter reminds us of the place St Peter has in our church as our patron saint and the place he has in the kingdom of heaven, called by Jesus to be a rock, a foundation stone for faith and worship.

Icons are of great importance in the Orthodox Church. These beautiful and elaborate paintings are described as "windows into the kingdom of God". They not only decorate churches but are used in worship both in church and private homes. The icon is seen as both a form of prayer and a means to prayer. By worshipping at the Icon the Orthodox Christian enters into a sacred place with God.

An icon is usually an elaborate, two dimensional pa inting. Often with a gold leaf background , they are painted on wood. They typically depict Christ, the Virgin and child, the Saints and scenes from the Bible. The iconographer prepares for the painting of an icon with prayer and fasting

St Peter's Church

Oughtrington Lane, Lymm, WA13 0QY

History & Items of interest

Background Information

Plan of the church

Facts And Figures

Icon of St Peter

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