“The church of the shining mere” has it all – scale, romance, history, war, fine features, and stunning views across the adjacent mere.
Around 1380/1383, Owain Glyndwr, Prince of Wales, was married here to Margaret Hanmer, the glamorous daughter of Sir David Hanmer, a Justice of the King’s Bench. It was from here in 1630 that Humphrey Hanmer emigrated to West Virginia to become the ancestor of the Hamners(sic) of America. The change in the name lost the reference to Hagena's Mere as name origin.
In 1643, during the Civil War, Nantwich Roundheads raided the village and stabled their horses in Fenn’s Chapel where the organ now stands. On 23rd June that year, a large body of Parliamentarian horse and dragoons were ambushed and “cut to pieces” at the side of Hanmer mere, by Welsh Royalists.
St Chad’s features in “Bad Blood”, the award winning and best selling autobiography of Lorna Sage, who recorded her childhood in Hanmer Vicarage during the post-war years.
The original 12th-century church has been twice badly damaged by fire, deliberately during the Wars of the Roses and accidently in 1889. It was rebuilt each time with local sandstone on the same foundations.
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Other notable features include stained glass windows by Kempe, exquisite wood carvings, and a lovely Church Square with four listed buildings.
If anybody would like to expand to this series please contact Sadexploration at churchmicro@gmail.com so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication. There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list.