Church of St Bartholomew Wilmslow Cheshire

WILMSLOW-The parish church of Wilmslow, Chester, has been recently restored, and was re-opened on the 10th ult. Mr W. H. Brakspear, of Manchester, was the architect. The church, originally dedicated to St. Bartholomew, is a plain specimen of the Perpendicular style of pre- Reformation date, consisting of tower, nave with north and south aisles, chancel with north and south aisles, and north and south transepts. The principal features in the present restoration are, that the west has been thrown open, and a fine window and porch brought into view and practical use by the removal of the organ gallery, the organ being now placed at the end of the north chancel chapel. A more than commonly hideous gallery over the south aisle in the nave has been pulled down. A modern grotesque painting on plaster, representing Moses and Aaron supporting the two tables of the law, which rested on the wood screen and intercepted the view from the nave of the fine east window, has been demolished. The pillars, walls, and aisle-roofs have been divested of their many coats of plaster, whitewash, and paint, the rugged and disfigured surface of the stone reduced to a consistent level, and the roofs panelled. An additional transept has been built on the north side, with a gallery for the school children corresponding to one in the tower at the west for the same purpose, both of which galleries are outside the body of the church. A chancel arch has been erected with perforated tracery. The church has been fitted up with coronae for gas and a new heating apparatus instead of open stoves. A wood screen and the fine old oak roof have been restored; and parallel lines of open seats, all of oak, facing east, have supplanted the irregular pews of every shape and size which formerly occupied the area. Two memorial windows have been erected in the church. [Building News 9 October 1863 page 770]

Reference           Building News 9 October 1863 page 770