St. Marys Church

St Mary`s church is situated just outside the centre of Hale Village, along Church Road.

The church is made of sandstone and the main building has been altered over the centuries. St Mary`s is situated on the site of a former chapel which was built in 1081 by Johannes De Hibernia other wise know as John Of Ireland who was buried there in 1088. The original graveyard which is totally square has two enterences at the south and north, and enterence is gained via two wooden arched gates. The original graveyard is surrounded by an ancient sandstone wall, but over the last 2/30 years it has been extened into an adjacent field. The earliest graves in St Mary`s date as far back as the 18th century, but the Childe of Hale`s (John Middleton) grave dates far back as 1623.

There are two graves in the intereior of St Mary`s, one of these is of John Irelande who was intered into the church in 1462. A monument was built in memory of John Ireland, but this has dissapeared around 1758 when the body of the church was rebuilt

Very little is known about the early church, as there are no records. The church was dedicated to St Mary, and in 1308 Adam Ireland built a new isle and also restored the stained glass windows. Around 1380 John Leyot a churchman at Hale obtained a licence from Pope Urban VI to found a charity chapel wich was to be built to the church by him, John Leyot died in 1428 and was buried in Hale Church Chancel. His tombstone was removed in 1758 by those rebuilding the church as the Minister thought it unsuitable for protestant congregation

The last alterations that were done to the church were around 1971, of which I have some memories of. These including an oak and glass screen beneath the gallery which was to form the western rooms, a toilet and a reception room were incorperated into

the front of the church.

The church had been altered many times, including the previous alterations mentioned in 1971. But six years later in 1977 on the evening of 19th 0ctober, all the grandure and living history of Hale church was to be destroyed in a devastating blaze.

As can be seen in the last two photo`s, only the sandstone building remained, all the furnishings had been totally destroyed.

Over two years passed as St Mary`s was rebuilt, but for the first 12 months the church was an open shell, and lay victim to the elements of the weather, and legal considerations regarding the insurance had to be discussed. Not only was insurance discussed but also design problems arose such as the roof. The original roof was too steep and was putting too much pressure on the side walls of the building. The end product was that the roof was lowered several feet, and you can see today the marks on the tower were the original roof was.

With all the problems overcome,, finally on May 28th 1980 the reconsecration of Hale Church took place by the then David, Lord Bishop of Liverpool.

The very early chapel was replaced by a new one during the 14th century, the present tower you see today is of that period, the 14th century, but the body has been replaced at least once. The sandstone tower at one point was pinnacled but at some point was removed.

As mentioned above, there are two graves intered into the church. The second grave belongs to the Rev. Francis Ellison. In 1758 the old wattle and daub body of the church was demolished and rebuilt, this took place while Rev Ellison was minister., an inscription was placed above the south enterence of the church in memory of the event. Rev, Ellison died in 1772 and was buried in front of the pulput where his worn grave stone is/was.

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The website for the historical village of Hale in Halton