St John the Evangelist, Ashton Hayes

By Peter I. Vardy – Own work, Public Domain, Wikimedia

In March 1848, William Atkinson made a petition to the Bishop of Chester that “on account of the great increase of inhabitants in the township of Ashton, an additional church for divine worship together with a cemetery is become necessary”. [1]

He was granted permission to build a church and he donated money to build it [2]. It was erected in 1848 and on the 9th March 1849, it was consecrated [2]. There was a procession from Ashton Hayes house to the church for the consecration service, and prayers were said for the founder and his wife. [1]

By Mike Harris, View east across fields from the bridge that carries Congar Lane over Ashton Brook, Cheshire. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

The church was built on a plot of land known as “Little Poll Ridding” at the cost of £3000 (about £463,521 today). It was designed by E.H Shellard who was an architect from Manchester. The building is constructed in the ‘perpendicular style of Gothic Architecture’ and the external appearance today remains unchanged except for the addition of a chapel on the north east corner [1].

The height to the top of the spire is about 116 feet high and the tower used to have a stone pinnacle at each of the four corners, however these were probably removed in 1931 when repairs to the tower took place. [1]

By St John the Evangelist, Ashton Hayes by Bikeboy, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

A barrel-organ provided music for the services, until a few years later when Mr. Atkinson’s son presented the church with its first organ [1]

The church bell was made in 1848 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, London, and weighs 9 ¼ hundredweight. There was a restoration done by 4 parishioners and the churchwardens in 1946 which repaired the bearings and supports [1].

In 1899, a scheme for alterations was proposed. The work included reredos, a new altar, a communion rail, a lectern and a credence table. A new organ chamber was also provided on the north side of the chancel [1].

In 1928 electric lighting was installed to replace the paraffin lamps. By July 1930, the vicar was explaining proposals for the ‘Chapel of the Holy Spirit. To construct it, it was necessary to remove the organ and the opportunity was taken to replace the organ with a new one [1]

The chapel was completed with a vaulted ceiling and decoratively plastered walls.

Since 1952 no other significant alterations had been made.

St John the Evangelist, Ashton Hayes – Interior (from achurchnearyou)

The Clock Itself

St John’s houses a clock by Joyce of Whitchurch. It was fitted in 1855 and has a single three legged gravity escapement. [1]

I currently do not have a photo of this particular clock, and so this three train Joyce from St Mary’s, Overton on Dee, Wrexham will have to do to show what a Joyce clock with the same escapement looks like, until I obtain one of this particular clock from the church! [3]