Our Church

and it's history

St Luke’s Church – brief history

Christian worship and mission following the Anglican tradition have been centred on St Luke’s church in Holmes Chapel in mid-Cheshire for many centuries.

Our Grade I listed historic parish church dates from about 1430 and is the prominent feature in the heart of the expanding village of Holmes Chapel.  We are fortunate to have access to the beauty and stillness of the old church building as well as the flexible facilities of our nearby modern Church Hall.

St Luke’s is a relatively small, Perpendicular timber church with Perpendicular sandstone west tower. The chancel and nave were encased in brickwork early in the 18th century.  Other alterations and extensions made largely in the 17th and 18th century,  including an extensive internal gallery.

The Grade I listing applies to the interior as well as the exterior because of its extensive timber framing and mediaeval roof truss arrangements which were revealed again after the plaster ceiling was removed in 1935.

The church is floodlit at night and is prominently situated within a small elevated churchyard within the village Conservation Area in and adjacent to the main London Road (A50). The churchyard is largely grassed and houses the village War Memorial on the north side. The churchyard is no longer used for burials which are carried out in the separate Knutsford Road (A50) churchyard nearby.

Scroll throught the images below for detail on some of the historic furnishings and artefacts to be found in our church.

Note: A fuller history of the church can be found in the recent account: The Story of St Luke’s, Church Hulme, by Peter Cotton, Cath Cameron and Valerie White, published in December 2020 – details here.

Images and photography by Jac Lee © Jac Lee Photography