Church of Saint Oswald

History

The church is dedicated to St Oswald, the “Saintly King” of Northumbria who, according to the venerable Bede, was killed in battle against Pendra the King of Mercia in 642AD. The present church was built in the second half of the 14th century on the assumed site of an earlier church although no structure remains of that church. It was largely rebuilt above the cill level in the late 15th century with the addition of a clerestory.

Structure

St. Oswald’s is built in red sandstone with lead roofs. The tower dates from the 14th century and is just over 70 feet (21 m) high with diagonal west buttresses, angled east buttresses, and a southeast octagonal turret. The nave and chancel are crenellated. At the south-west corner is a porch which leads into a six-bay nave with north and south aisles. At the eastern end of each aisle is a chantry chapel, the north chapel originally belonging to the Cholmondeley family and the south chapel to the Brereton family. To the east of the nave is the three-bay chancel and in the north-east corner is a vestry dating from 1717. Above the south porch is a parvise and above the doorway is a wall sundial with niches on either side. The porch is embattled, with pinnacles and gargoyles.

Fittings and furniture

Within the nave is an oak chest dating from the second half of the 13th century. The octagonal font is from the 15th century and it has an oak cover made in 1627. The pews date from the 1880s but some of the original box pews from the Brereton chapel are now at the back of the south aisle. The nave ceiling is constructed with camber beams and it has bosses and carved angels. Above the chancel arch is a painting of St Peter’s Denial of Christ by Hayman together with three pairs of hatchments belonging to the Dod family of Edge Hall, the Tarleton family formerly of Bolesworth and the Cholmondeley family of Cholmondeley Castle. Within each chantry chapel is a tomb. In the Brereton chapel the tomb is that of Sir Randal Brereton and his wife and is dated 1522. The monument in the Cholmondeley chapel was erected in 1605 and represents Sir Hugh Cholmondeley and his second wife, Mary. Also in this chapel is a memorial to Lady Cholmondeley who died in 1815 by Westmacott. In the chancel is a memorial tablet to Charles Wolley Dod who died in 1904 by Edward Hilton. In the nave is a slab to Urian Davenport, rector of Malpas who died in 1495. In the south aisle are tablets to John Stockton who died in 1700 and Bridget Kynaston who died in 1644. In the north aisle is a memorial to Lt. Col. Henry Tarleton who died in 1820 by Edwards & Co. of Wrexham.

On the south side of the chancel is a triple sedilia and a piscina. The altarpiece was presented by a Mr Drake in 1721. Against the south wall of the chancel are three 15th century stalls with misericords. The stained glass includes a panel in the north chapel dating from around 1500 depicting the Presentation in the Temple. Also present are several panels dating from the 16th century and many Netherlandish medallions dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. One window in the south aisle dated 1902 is by Kempe. The east window is a memorial to Bishop Heber who was born in the town. From the sanctuary a staircase leads down to a vaulted crypt below the altar which was formerly a treasury. The two-manual organ was built in 1897 by Lewis & Co Ltd, overhauled around 1962 by Rushworth and Dreaper and restored at a later date by Peter Collins. The church plate includes a chalice dated 1674 and two silver patens of 1742. The parish registers date from 1561 and the churchwardens’ accounts from 1653. The ring consists of eight bells. Four of these were cast by John Rudhall in 1802, and the other four were by John Taylor & Co, two of these being dated 1908 and the other two in 1914.

External features

Parts of the churchyard wall are listed Grade II. Within the churchyard are a number of items listed Grade II, namely, a table tomb dedicated to members of the Duncall family, the tomb of John Bassett, a headstone to the Hobley family and a sandstone sundial pedestal dating probably from the early 18th century. Listed Grade II* are the gate piers and steps at the south-west corner of the churchyard and the gates, gate piers and steps at south-east corner of churchyard. They were originally made for Oulton Park in the 1720s at the time of John Vanbrugh’s work there. They were moved to Malpas churchyard around 1773. The gate piers and steps to the west gateway to the churchyard are listed Grade II as are the gate piers and steps to a small gateway at the southeast corner of the churchyard.

Gargoyles and Grotesques

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article St. Oswald’s Church, Malpas