St Mary’s Church in Lymm, Cheshire, is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Great Budworth.^[1] It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed buildingStructure of particular architectural and/or historic interest deserving of special protection..^[2]

The Domesday Book shows that a church was on the site, now overlooking the Lymm Dam, in the 11th century, since when it has been rebuilt a number of times.^[3] The present church was built in 1850–1852 to a design by John Dobson of Newcastle.^[2] The naveCentral part of a church, used by the laiety.Central part of a church, used by the laiety. and aislesPart of a church on either side of the nave or choir, separated from them by arcades, colonnades or piers. More generally, a passageway between seats in an auditorium, shelves in a supermarket and so on. from an older church dating from the 15th century were blown up with gunpowder prior to the rebuilding.^[4]

Alterations and additions were made to the church in 1870–1872 by the Chester architect John Douglas, including an organ chamber and the reredosLarge ornamented wall, screen, or other structure placed behind the altar in a Christian church..^[5] The tower was replaced in 1888–1890 by J. S. Crowther.^[2]

Architecture

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Exterior

The church is built in buff sandstone. Its plan consists of a west tower, a five-bay naveCentral part of a church, used by the laiety.Central part of a church, used by the laiety. with a clerestoryUppermost range of windows in the wall of a church, or a row of windows above eye-level., north and south aisles, a north porch, transeptsPart of a Christian church crossing the area between the nave and the chancel, forming a characteristic cruciform shape., a chancelPart of a church containing the altar, used by the officiating clergy., and a vestryRoom in Christian churches for the storage of liturgical vestments, sacred vessels and parish records.. The tower is in three stages with diagonal buttresses and an embattled top. Its west window is in Perpendicular style, and the bell-openings are paired with panel tracery.^[2] The tower contains a ring of eight bells, cast in 1891 by John Taylor and Company.^[6]

The churchyard contains the war graves of twelve service personnel, nine of the First World War and three of the Second.^[7]

Interior

The chancel has a panelled ceiling, and the transepts contain galleries.^[2] The plain pulpit is dated 1623. The stone sediliaSeats for the officiating clergy found on the south side of an altar. and piscinaSmall basin in a Christian church used to clean the priest's hands and the sacred vessels used at Mass., dating from 1871 to 1872, are in Decorated style, and were designed by John Douglas. The font is octagonal and dates probably from the 1660s. The church contains an ogee-headed tomb recess dating from about 1322 that has been moved from the older church. There is a supposed Roman altar in the south aisle. On the walls are two sgraffiti, one in the south aisle dated 1883, and the other in the north aisle, dated 1906. The stained glass in the west window is dated 1853, and is possibly by David Evans; the glass in the east window is from 1865. Three windows in the south aisle, dated 1851, are by William WailesEnglish 19th-century stained-glass artist, one of the most accomplished of his generation.. One window in the north aisle, dating from 1897 is by Kempe, and another, dating from about 1899, is probably by Shrigley and Hunt.^[8]

Memorials in the church include one to John Leigh, of Oughtrington Hall, who died in 1806, and his wife who died in 1819, and two tablets by E. H. Baily in the south transept to members of the Fox family who died between 1830 and 1845.^[8] There is also a wooden memorial to William Domvylle of Lymm Hall, who died in 1686.^[9]

Organ

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The pipe organ originally installed in the church was built in 1858 by Forster and Andrews, and rebuilt in 1944 by Jardine.^[10] The present electronic organ, built by the local organ-builder Hugh Banton, was installed in 2005.^[11]