For more lonely and lovely Old Cheshire Churches
CLICK HERE.
st bertoline barthomlely Barthomley

St. Bertoline

Richards (Old Cheshire Churches published in 1947) says that the church is amongst the most beautiful in the county and is dedicated to St. Bertoline, an 8th century prince who became a hermit after the loss of his young and beautiful wife.

There is a hamlet of a few black and white building with the White Lion pub nestled among them. The pub is all that an village inn, or pub should, or could be, thatched, half timbered, unspoilt, good ale and food. Perfect!		 How to find it
The A500T road between Crewe and the Potteries has now isolated the village for traffic now zooms along to Stoke or the M6 at junction 16. Follow the signs from the A500 for Barthomley or the Englesea Brook Methodist Museum which is close by.
Map ref 767525

A refuge in the tower?
During the Civil War there was an atrocity committed in the village.
On Christmas Eve of 1643, a group of Royalists, after plundering the locality found that about 20 villagers had taken refuge in the church. Lord Byron's troop and Connought, a Major to Colonel Sneyd, captured the church but the villagers took refuge in the tower. The Royalists made a fire at the base of the tower, forcing the fugitives to surrender. Connought then stripped and killed 12 of the group and cut the throat of John Fowler, then under 21. Three men escaped unharmed, the rest were wounded. For the next two days the Royalists plundered Barthomley. The massacre was to have been used as one of the charges at the trial of King Charles 2nd.
The excuse for this wantoness was that one of the Barthomley men shot and killed one of the royalist party.
tower st bertoline barthomlely tower st bertoline barthomlely

The church from the south.

interior st bertoline barthomlely interior st bertoline barthomlely
The Interior
The church has a fine and lovely roof of the camber beam type which is 16th century. It is divided into 4 bays
There are two portraits of Moses and Aaron in the church.

The tomb of Lady Houghton, designed by Sir Edgar Boehm, shows her as a serene sleeping figure.
She was aged 30 and the monument is a tribute to the skill of the artist. There are other older medieval monuments in the church but this, in it's poignancy and beauty, eclipses them.		 tomb Lady Houghton st bertoline barthomley The inscription reads

"Sibyl Marcia wife of Robert Offley Ashburton and Baron Houghton. Born July 23rd 1857. Married June 3rd 1880. Died September 19th 1887."
Go to top of page