St Mary's Church, Acton

The presence of a church with two priests on the site is recorded in the Domesday Book. The church and its lands were given by the second Baron of Wich Malbank to Combermere Abbey early in the 12th century. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, the advowson was granted to Richard Wilbraham and it then passed to the Lords Tollemache. The tower was built about 1180, which makes it the oldest tower in Cheshire. When it was built it was over 100 ft high but its top collapsed in a storm in March 1757 damaging the roof of the church and the clerestory. It was rebuilt but only to a height of 80 ft. The north aisle was built in the last quarter of the 14th century in Decorated style and the…

The church is built in red sandstone with a lead roof. The nave has four bays, with north and south aisles of six bays. The chancel has three bays with a vestry on its north side. The piers of the arcade date from the 13th century while the capitals are from the 19th-century restoration. The authors of the Buildings of England series state that the body of the church is mostly Perpendicular in style. At the east end of the north aisle is the Mainwaring chapel, which was originally a Lady Chapel; at the north side of the tower is the Dorfold chantry. Old stone seating remains around the sides of the church, which is unusual.