The 14th Century Parish Church of St.Mary holds four services every Sunday, two of which are supported by a choir and a team of bell-ringers.

St Mary’s is a treasure trove, steeped in the history of ancient Alderley and attracts many visitors. In addition to the Sunday services, regular opening hours and special weekends are held from Easter through to the end of October, with tour guides always on hand.

The Churchyard lies sheltered beneath the branches of a 1200 year old yew tree. For more than seven centuries, the church and the Elizabethan school house provided the village with education, a cemetery, a safe haven and a place of worship.

The porch and nave are the oldest parts of the building (AD1300). All the stone was quarried locally and the great roofs over the nave and aisles are made of Kerridge slate.

The fine tower, containing a peal of 6 bells, was added in 1530 as was the unique barrel-shaped roof of the nave. At the west end of the nave, there is a magnificent musicians’ gallery (1803) which now houses the organ, presented to the church by Lady Stanley in 1875. The church also possesses a unique 14th Century font.

Like all great historic churches, St Mary’s owes many of its unique features to the patronage of the local aristocratic family – the Stanleys of Alderley. Their stamp on the church is everywhere, from the impressive family mausoleum in the grounds, to the memorial tombs of the first and second Lord Stanleys in the sanctuary, but perhaps their most unique addition to the church is the Stanley Pew, elevated on the south wall of the church like a royal opera box and sumptuously decorated with red furnishings.

Services

Sunday:

• 8:00am Holy Communion (3rd Sunday in the month only)
• 9:45am Morning Service at Alderley
• 6:30pm Evensong

Thursday:

• 10.00am Holy Communion to BCP (last Thursday in the month only)

Further Information

St Mary, Alderley now has two websites! We recently launched http://alderleychurch.co.uk/  which features the day to day running of the church.

Now in addition, we have another brand new site dedicated solely to St.Mary’s heritage.

http://www.stmarysalderley.com/  includes a full history of the church and its furnishings, details of visits and tours and various ‘shop’ items. There is also a section covering ‘WW1 in Nether Alderley’. Much research was undertaken on this topic during 2014 and further to that during 2015. This site gives us the opportunity to upload that information.

We feel certain you will find this website both informative and fascinating, so dip in and enjoy!!

With many thanks to Jenny Youatt for contribution of this article.