St Peter's Church, Minshull Vernon

The parish of Minshull Vernon was formed in 1840, and the earlier church stood on a different site nearer to where Leighton Hospital now stands. This church was damaged by fire and was demolished.[4] St Peter's was built between 1847 and 1849 to a design by John Matthews,[5] and consecrated on 12 December 1849.[1] A grant of £150 was given towards its construction by the Church Building Commission,[3] the total cost of its building being £1,700 (equivalent to £190,000 in 2021).[4][6] A north transept to accommodate the organ was added in 1903,[4] and this was extended in 1913 by Harold Sheldon.[5] Electricity was installed in the church in 1959, and a new vestry was added to the west end of the church in 1966.[4]

The church is constructed in stone with slate roofs. Its plan consists of a four-bay nave, a north porch, a chancel that is narrower and lower than the nave, a north transept for the organ, and a south vestry. On the west gable is a double bellcote. Most of the windows are lancets, with a triple lancet at the east end. Inside the church is an oak pulpit and a lectern in the shape of an eagle. On the north wall of the chancel is a trefoil-headed sedilia. The choir benches are carved with poppyheads.[2] The stained glass in the east window was installed in 1879.[4] The glass in the north window of the chancel was moved from a Congregational church in Cheadle in 1974. Stained glass was added to the small window above the chancel arch to celebrate the millennium.[7] Seven further stained glass windows, from a redundant church in Cheadle, were added in 2016. These windows, and the refurbishment of the choir vestry, were dedicated by the Right Rev. Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester, on 3 July 2016, the 50th anniversary of the vestry's original dedication.[8] The three-manual pipe organ was built in 1847 by Wadsworth.[9]

The churchyard contains the war grave, standing east of the church, of a soldier of World War I.[10]

• Listed buildings in Minshull Vernon