St Michael's on Wyre is one of seven ancient parishes of the hundred of Amounderness. It was the third largest, with an area of 18,888 acres (76.44 km2; 29.51 sq mi).[1] The Domesday Book of 1086 lists three churches in Amounderness, one of which was probably St Michael's.[2] There has certainly been a church on the site from at least the 13th century, elements of which remain in the current building.[3] The present church was possibly built in the 15th century and alterations were made in the 17th century. The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 17 April 1967.[3] The Grade I listing is for buildings "exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important".[4]
Architecture
The church is typical of late Medieval churches of northern England and is constructed of sandstoneashlar and rubble.[3][5] The plan consists of a tower at the west end, a chancel and nave under a continuous roof and a chapel to the north.[3] The tower is said to date from 1549.[6] It is broad and low with a west window and has three stages, the upper of which (added later) is inset.[5] The date 1611 and the coat of arms and initials of Henry Butler are carved into the parapet.[6] The tower's plan is trapezoidal and it has angled buttresses.[3]
The chancel and nave are under a continuous roof of blue slate. There is an aisle to the south under a separate gabled slate roof, with an embattled parapet and buttresses.[3] The aisle is separated from the chancel by two wide arches. There is a porch to the south of the south aisle.[6] A shorter aisle lies to the north of the church, west of the Butler Chapel.[3]
The Butler Chapel to the north of the church dates from 1480 and was founded as a chantry of St Katharine.[5][6] It was repaired in 1797 and reseated and restored in 1854.[6] It has a pitched roof with an embattled parapet which dates from the 19th century.[3] Its windows have flat heads with cinquefoil tops and upper mouchettes.[5]
The tower houses a ring of three bells, hung in a timber frame.[7] The treble was cast in 1458 and given to the church by a French lady named Catherine de Bernieules, Lady of Neufchatel.[8] It is inscribed with Gothic script.[7] The second bell was cast in 1663 by Geoffrey Scott of Wigan. The third dates from 1742 and was cast by Abel Rudhall of Gloucestershire.[9]
Cheetham, Frank Halliday (1914). The Church of St. Michael-on-Wyre in Amounderness. Edinburgh: Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. OCLC558246753.
Cheetham, Frank Halliday (1919), The Church Bells of Lancashire [Part 4: The Hundred of Amounderness], Sherratt & Hughes, OCLC27475286
Farrer, William; Brownbill, J., eds. (1912), "The Parish of St Michael-on-Wyre", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7, pp. 260–267, retrieved 19 August 2010
