The chapel hidden in a copse of trees with the Windgatherer Rocks behind.
"The Jenkin Chapel"
St John the Baptist
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The chapel hidden in a copse of trees with the Windgatherer Rocks behind. |
Saltersford
"The Jenkin Chapel" St John the Baptist |
| In a very lonely and isolated spot on the Cheshire
Derbyshire border is to be found this unusual little church. In the early 1700s some local people wanted a place to worship and they choose to build a church in the only way they knew; like one of their own homes. It is tucked away in good walking and climbing country in a remote, lovely and unexpected part of Cheshire. |
How to find it. On the A537 between Buxton and Macclesfield take the sign to Saltersford. Follow this narrow road for 3 miles past the Lamaload reservoir taking a right fork after 2 miles. Turning right past the church takes you over into the Goyt valley. |
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The chapel in winter. On the first picture the road on the left leads up to Pym's Chair and then over the Derbyshire border into the Goyt Valley. | ||
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The chapel in summer |
| History The chapel was erected about 1733 it is thought at the expense of one John Slack. However the tablet above the porch celebrating this fact is very worn it appears that according to Richards it was "deliberately defaced by those who resented Slack's name appearing as the sole benefactor" The 1794 rededication to St. John the Baptist says "This chapel was built and erected at the sole expense of and with voluntary contributions from ancestors of several local inhabitants.". It is a building of simple architecture erected by local builders with no master mason involved. It has a certain charm with its tower erected in 1745/6. |
| People and stories Close by the church are, or were, 3 forest crosses namely the Blue Boar stone, the Jenkin Cross and the Pym chair stone. The church takes it's name from the Jenkin Cross, legend has it that Jenkin was a sheep dealer who regularly travelled from Ruthin in North Wales and was popular with the farmers who grazed their flocks on the eastern slopes of Saltersford. |
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The
interior.
The fittings all belong to the 18th century. It has box pews and a double decker pulpit |