Wood you believe local treasures?

Date published: 08 September 2010

Beautiful woodwork will be the focus of this year’s Heritage Open Days at St Margaret’s Church in Prestwich, one of several local buildings taking part in the nationwide event on September 11 and 12.

The “Grade II”-listed Victorian parish church, on St Margaret’s Road near Heaton Park, will be open from 9.30am to 2.30pm on Saturday September 11, and from 1.00pm to 5.00pm on Sunday September 12. Admission will be free, and all visitors will receive a free copy of the new edition of the church’s visitor guide. Stewards will be on hand to answer questions.

The event forms part of Heritage Open Days, England’s biggest and most popular voluntary cultural event. Last year the national Open Days attracted around one million visitors.

Opened in 1851, St Margaret’s is particularly well known for its extensive “Arts and Crafts movement” woodcarvings executed by Arthur Simpson of Kendal between 1899 and 1920, thought to be one of the finest collections in the north. Two families of brewers with Prestwich connections – the Holts and the Wilsons – gave much of this remarkable carved oak, which includes a rood screen, pulpit, choir stalls, chancel panelling and war memorial. Some of the wood at the war memorial came from the home of poet William Wordsworth.

The latest addition to St Margaret’s woodwork was made earlier this year, when York craftsman Charles Gurrey carved a new vertical beam of English oak bearing Jesus’s words, “I am among you as one who serves”, in memory of two longstanding parishioners.

The church boasts splendid fittings of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including stained glass, embroideries, mosaics and contemporary paintings, but this year’s particular focus will be the high-quality and extensive woodwork which enriches St Margaret’s.

The church is also participating this weekend in the Diocese of Manchester’s “weekend of prayer”, and a series of prayer stations around the building will enhance the visitor experience.

The Reverend Debby Plummer, priest-in-charge at St Margaret’s, said: “Heritage Open Days are a great opportunity for local people to visit the key places in the history and lives of their community. Here at St Margaret’s, we have an outstandingly beautiful church building and a warm and welcoming church family. Come and meet us at your parish church on September 11 and 12”. 

For more Heritage Open Days events click here