The land on which our church was built was donated by Wilbraham Egerton(1781-1856) and was consecrated All Saints' Church Marthall in 1839. The church is located at Glover's Cross and building work was completed in 1841.

At that time there were more than 300 people living within one mile of the site of the church, but more than two miles from an existing place of worship. Previously, parishioners had attended Over Peover church, and people would use a lane in nearly a direct line from Glover's Cross to Peover Church for their journeys. After the opening of Marthall Church , the lane was redundant and became wholly absorbed into the surrounding fields.

In 1886, thanks largely to the munificence of Wilbraham, Baron Egerton of Tatton(1832-1909), fundamental alterations to the church were undertaken. A new chancel and vestry were added to the original building.

The organ in the gallery was relocated in a new organ chamber opposite the vestry.

Re-siting of the organ provided additional seating in the gallery.

A new communion rail manufactured from light oak was installed c. 1965. Sculpture on the vertical supports symbolises peace and light as inspired by the Holy Spirit.

As a memorial,and in appreciation of the generosity and support shown by Baron Egerton of Tatton, the local parishioners jointly funded the manufacture and installation of three beautiful stained glass windows located in the apse of the church.

The scenes depicted are:-
•  Jesus blessing the children (Matthew 19 v 13-15)
•  The feeding of the five thousand. (Matthew 14 v 15-21)
•  Raising Jairus' daughter from the dead (Matthew 9 v 23-26)

In 2006, 120 years later, the parishioners raised a further £4000 to cover specialist restoration and repair work necessary to these windows and the apse.

The pews and church woodwork were originally finished in dark oak. Around 1980 the woodwork was stripped back to bare wood to produce the existing light oak appearance.

 

Garden of Remembrance

In 1922, in the church corner nearest to the cross roads a Celtic cross made from light granite was erected, with the names of all local heroes who had fallen during the 1914-18 war inscribed near its base.

For practical reasons, this memorial was recently moved to a southern corner of the churchyard (on the site of the original Sunday school building) to form a focal point for the Garden of Remembrance .

There are also brass commemorative plaques on the N/E and S/E walls inside the church.

Work is currently in progress to improve the appearance of the memorial garden with the ultimate aim of recreating a garden of peace and beauty for the interment of ashes.

This web page was created from the leaflet produced for the June 2006 FESTIVAL of FLOWERS the theme for which was “The Tapestry of Life”. We are very grateful to Reverend Sue Hawkins for permission to reproduce it here.

For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies,

Christ our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild,

or each perfect gift of thine
to our race so freely given,
graces human and divine,
flowers of earth and buds of heaven,