Portal:Cheshire/Selected article/13

St Mary's Church, Acton is an Anglican parish church in the village of Acton, near Nantwich. Two priests were recorded at Acton in the Domesday survey. Early in the 12th century, the church and its lands were given by the second Baron of Wich Malbank to Combermere Abbey.

The present red sandstone church is a Grade I listed building. The tower dates from around 1180 and is the oldest in Cheshire, although it has largely been rebuilt after falling in 1757. Originally over 100 ft high, the rebuilt tower is 20 ft lower. Parts of the remainder of the church date from the 13th century, including the arches connecting the tower to the nave, the narrow lancet windows, the flat buttresses and the arcade piers. The interior retains the old stone seating around its sides, and the south aisle contains some carved stones dating from the Norman era. In the churchyard is a tall 17th century sundial.

Alec Clifton-Taylor includes St Mary's in his list of "best" English parish churches.

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