St Saviour's Church, Ringley

The first church was built in 1625. The chapel was donated by Nathan Walworth who was born at Ringley Fold in 1572 and went on to become the Earl of Pembroke. The chapel was licensed, but the Bishop of Chester refused to consecrate the building until money for maintenance was guaranteed. The locals had different ideas about the amount required. The dispute went on for nearly ten years and reached the point where Nathan was threatening to pull the place down, sell the timber and stones and give the money to the poor, 'and so it shall be Gods still'. Happily, the letter containing his threats appears to have reached Ringley, as the consecration was being performed in December 1634. The name…

Some of the fittings were moved from the old church. These include the chancel rails in rococo style, and a communion table in the north chapel dated 1654. The stained glass in the north side of the chancel are from the 17th century. Later fittings include a reredos and sedilia in alabaster dating from 1879 containing mosaic and statues, a rood beam with figures from 1925, and an altar with a canopy in a chapel at the northwest of the church dating from 1921. Also in the church are monuments to the memory of Matthew Fletcher, owner of the Wet Earth Colliery who died in 1808, and his nephew Ellis Fletcher who died in 1834.

In the south aisle, there are mural monuments to Matthew Fletcher, who died 21st August 1808, aged 78 and to his nephew Ellis Fletcher, who departed this life after a severe affliction, borne with patient resignation, on 26th April, 1834, aged 69. Ellis's widow Mary (died 1836), and their sons John (1836), and Ellis (1854) are also commemorated and their memorial used to stand on the wall of the Sanctuary. The Fletchers owned Clifton Colliery, among others, and Matthew Fletcher played a major part in getting the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal built. Coal and passenger boats were running by 1796, before the canal was completed. A disastrous breach in the 1930s added to the problems of…