The Leaning Tower Of Wybunbury

[poliphilo]

We stopped for lunch at Wybunbury- pronounced Winbry- a village in East Cheshire, a little to the south of Crewe. The magnificent 15th century tower is all that survives of the old church of St Chad- which was built on shifting ground and kept threatening to fall over. It was demolished three times and rebuilt twice in same place and finally (in 1977) on a different site. The tower leans markedly to the south but was stabilised in 1832, using a technique of underexcavation that was later used on the leaning tower of Pisa. It is known as the leaning- or hanging- tower of Wybunbury.

The statues on the west front had their heads knocked off by visiting Cromwellians but were re-headed in the 19th century. The second picture shows some evidence of the tilt.