The History of St Mary the Virgin, Eccleston

We offer you a very warm welcome to St Mary's Church, Eccleston, one of the oldest churches in Lancashire.

The name Eccleston comes from the ancient British word for church ‘egles’ to which was added the Old English word ‘tun’ meaning place or town. Therefore Eccleston means churchtown.

As you approach the Church you passed through the Lych Gate. It is made of oak with oak shingles and came from one tree. The name Lych Gate means ‘Gate of the Dead’ and in mediaeval times was where the deceased waited to be taken into Church. The Lych Gate was erected and dedicated to the memory of William Bretherton, one time patron of the living.

Although there has been a church on this site since 1094 AD, the present building in its original form was in existence in 1182, but there are very good reasons for believing that there may have been a Saxon church on this same site. On the altar tomb rests part of a Saxon cross discovered in 1915 in a ditch adjacent to the church. The original building was enlarged in the 13th Century by the addition of the South aisle. The hexagonal pillars with plain and somewhat severe capitals and pointed arches belong to this period.

The South aisle was carried straight through to provide the Chantry Chapel, correctly called the Jesus Chapel as the whole of the church is dedicated to The Blessed Virgin Mary. The tower was probably added in the 13th Century with the bell stage added in the 15th Century and the parapet added in 1733. The porch at the South entrance to the church was refurbished in 1996.

A statuette of the Virgin Mary commissioned by Rev'd Richard Bretherton Hawkshead-Talbot, has been placed in the niche in the entrance, there having been no statue there since the 16th Century. The sculptor of the statue is Thompson Dagnell of Bretherton. The Rev'd Bretherton Hawkshead ¬Talbot was Rector of this Parish from 1958 to 1979 and he commissioned the figure in memory of his father and brother who were Rectors of the Parish before him.