Marton Church

[poliphilo]

St James and St Paul, Marton

Marton is a little village in Cheshire, on the road between Wilmslow and Congleton. The church is 14th century and is claimed to be the oldest half-timbered church still in use anywhere in Europe. It has medieval glass, a couple of battered stone knights and a mural of the Last Judgement. It is the setting for a crucial scene in Alan Garner's novel Strandloper.

Comments

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

What a fascinating old building.

How much 14th century architecture of any kind remains in England? I should think that there couldn't be much still standing.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of churches of that date and earlier (but don't ask me to put a figure on it). Other types of building are rarer, because a) they were made of less durable materials, b) there hasn't been the continual care of them by a well-resourced institution such as the Church, c) people fired cannons at them at some point, and/or d) there just weren't as many to begin with.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

Coming from a country that wasn't settled until the early 17th, for the most part, it's always hard to wrap my head around the survival of architecture that old.

I hadn't really thought about why churches would enjoy a higher survival rate. Thanks.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

As steepholm says there are a lot of medieval churches left- some of them going back as far as the Saxon era.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

I wonder what the oldest might be?

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

Lovely building!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

And typical of the area. There's a lot of half-timbering in Cheshire.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

It's really lovely. I don't think I've ever seen a half-timbered church anywhere.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There's another one at Siddington, just up the road from Marton, only it has been largely rebuilt in brick.

[sovay]

It has medieval glass, a couple of battered stone knights and a mural of the Last Judgement. It is the setting for a crucial scene in Alan Garner's novel Strandloper.

Great. Now I want to visit.