We went down to the main road and the village of Cressage – Christchurch at SJ593040. It is a busy main road and three steps up into the churchyard. A welcome notice by the door.
There is a nice local history exhibition inside and some information about the church. The medieval church of St Sampson’s was situated at the west end of the village, probably on the site of a Saxon church. The Reverend George Onions Bird was Curate 1839-53 and raised funds to build this new church, presumably much nearer the centre of the village. When this new church was built the dedication was changed to Christchurch, which was the college the curate had attended. Shame he went to the second university. It was consecrated on 19 October 1841.
Some of the woodwork in the church came from the medieval church of St Sampson’s. The inscription on the pulpit says “Houmfry Dalle the elder made this for James Dalle which I pray God to bless unto his end Amen 1635”.
The East window has a rather nice roundel – very similar to some of the lovely glass in St Mary’s Shrewsbury. Did the Reverend William Gorusch Rowland have a drink with his friend the Reverend George Onions Bird (proper clergy with proper names!) who said “I’ve got a nice bit of glass for your new church”!
It was not a long visit to this church and we hadn’t driven very far since leaving Shrewsbury, but we had found a good variety in these three churches. After three churches we decided a National Trust lunch was needed – and had a lovely afternoon at Attingham, just down the road.
Can anyone tell me the dates that The Rev H A
Ainsworth was vicar of Cressage