Bredbury - Religious Sites

Religious Sites

St Mark (Church of England)

The parish church of Bredbury is dedicated to St Mark.

Although the village is mentioned in the Domesday Book, Bredbury was without a church until the middle of the 19th century. The first move towards the establishment of a local church and parish, as district from that of St Mary's in Stockport, was made in 1846, when an Order in Council marked out the boundaries of the "District of St Mark, Bredbury".

It was not long before a site for the church was secured through the generosity of John Sidebotham of Kingston in Hyde, and in 1847 the foundation stone of the new church was laid by the donor of the site. The church was consecrated on 17 January 1849, and the church school was opened in 1850.

Built of freestone in the Early English style, the church consists of a square tower having four pinnacles, a nave and aisles, and a chancel with a vestry on the north side. The tower is 70 feet (21 m) high, occupying a commanding position, a contains a clock and a peal of bells. The windows consist of two lights each, the chancel window of three lights being filled with painted glass illustrating the Crucifixion, erected by William Collier Vaudrey in 1875, to the memory of his wife and her sister.

The Church School (now rebuilt), is on the opposite side of Redhouse Lane.

St Barnabas (Church of England)

In 1942 Bredbury Hall, with its 11 acres (45,000 m2) of land, was purchased by the Diocese of Chester to be used as a mission church and social centre for Lower Bredbury. On 16 May 1943, the Lord Bishop of Chester dedicated an altar in one of the rooms of the hall.

Later the new church was erected nearby and was dedicated to St Barnabas by the Bishop of Chester on 27 March 1954.

Bredbury Hall was then sold off.

Our Lady and St Christopher (Roman Catholic)

The Roman Catholic faith is ministered to by the Church of Our Lady and St Christopher at Barrack Hill, which was erected in 1932. A presbytery was added in 1952, and the church was subsequently enlarged and a parish hall added. Roman Catholic services were previously held in the chapel at Harrytown Hall.

Hatherlow (United Reformed Church)

Hatherlow Church traces its history back to 1645, services then being held in Chadkirk Chapel, and it was the oldest Congregational body in Cheshire. The first independent minister at Chadkirk was Gamallel Jones, who settled there in 1688 or 1689. In the latter year the "Meeting Place" at Chadkirk was certified as a licensed place for religious worship shortly after the passing of the Toleration Act. When they were finally ejected in the reign of Queen Anne, a new building was erected in 1706 on the site now occupied by Hatherlow Sunday School.

It is recorded in a statistical table of the dissenting chapels in Cheshire, begun about 1715, that the congregation at Hatherlow numbered about 300 hearers, including 10 gentlemen, 39 tradesmen, 26 yeomen and 8 labourers. These would be drawn from a very wide area.

The present church was opened as Hatherlow Congregational Church in 1845, although the burial ground surrounding it goes back to 1793. A day school was established in 1780 at Bredbury Old School on School Brow, and the building known as Top School on Gorsey Brow, now partially demolished, was built in 1830 as an overflow. The day school continued until it was succeeded by the Council school at Barrack Hill in 1909.

Hatherlow Sunday School was established in May 1817, and was held first at School Brow and then at the Top School. The present Sunday School was built in 1911.

The church has always been the centre of cultural activity in the district, and was the home of the former Bredbury Amicable Subscription Library, founded in 1822, and later of Hatherlow Botanical Society.