Christ Church, Rossett

Christ Church, Rossett

The first church on this site was completed in 1841, a year after the new parish of Rossett was formed. Previously the area was part of Gresford parish. The building we see here today was built in 1892.

The vicar, Rev Thomas Vowler Wickham, continued to use the remains of the old church, which had suffered fire damage, for as long as possible. The press reported in May 1891 that he had “conducted a wedding in the ruins of the parish church at Rossett”. He had arrived at Rossett in 1863 and soon began to lobby for a new church.

He died in October 1892, four days before the consecration of the new church, which a newspaper described as “his life’s work”. He was buried on the day the church was consecrated.

Chester-based architects Douglas and Fordham designed the new church, including some of the internal fittings such as the pews and organ case. The pulpit, in carved oak, was re-used from the original church, as were the lamps in the nave and north aisle with their ornate ironwork. The font (stone bowl for holy water) of the previous church stands outside the chancel – look to your right as you walk from the lychgate to the church entrance.

The clock in the tower is dated 1902 and initialled ER. It commemorated the coronation of King Edward VII in that year. The tower contains eight tubular bells.

The large east window – prominent in the view of the church from the main road and lychgate – contains stained glass by Charles Eamer Kempe. He was a devout Christian but a speech impediment stopped him from becoming a priest. Instead he designed windows and fittings for churches.

In 1925 a war memorial window was installed in the nave’s north wall. It depicts a battlefield scene, with a soldier carrying a rifle and a medic tending a wounded soldier. Rossett war memorial is located in the churchyard.

Postcode: LL12 0GD    View Location Map

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