Myddle Parish Church of St. Peter
A church has stood on this site since Saxon times, the land having been given to Shrewsbury Abbey by Warin the Bold. Nothing is known of the early church but in 1232, the first named Rector, Howell ap Griffin de Bromfeld (a younger son of the Prince of Lower Powis) had Henry III’s permission to reside here.
The Church registers in the County Archives date back to 1541. During the Rectorship of Ralph Kynaston the church tower had deteriorated badly [not helped by the oak steeple on top of the tower falling down). The Rector offered to rebuild the tower up to his own height if the parishioners paid for the rest. They declined. Ralph Kynaston died in 1629 and is buried underneath the chancel. The tower was eventually rebuilt by John Dod in 1634 at a cost of £5/yard.
In 1744 the church was rebuilt, apart from the tower, and an inset on the outside of the north wall commemorates this event. The south aisle was enlarged as the population had increased. Whilst it was closed for various repairs and renewals in 1857/8, services were held in the school.
The Church contains a painting of ‘St Peter’s denial of Christ’ which is an early 18th century original painting of the Italian School, in a 19th century frame.
There are two war memorial windows depicting St. Michael and St. Gabriel inserted in a double plain glass lancet window to the left of the War Memorial Board in the south aisle. They were created in Florence Carr’s studio in Smethwick and are considered ‘very fine’ in the pre-Raphaelite tradition.
The millennium in 2000 was celebrated by a large tapestry worked by the ladies of the craft group from Harmer Hill. It depicts: the Church, Village Hall the Red Lion, the village well and the remains of the castle – all at Myddle; the Presbyterian Chapel, the Bridgwater Arms, the Red Castle, Village Hall, and the redundant school and chapel - all at Harmer Hill; Balderton Hall, Marton Hall, and The Nest at Webscott – all local hamlets. The flora and fauna were worked by ladies and friends of the Craft Group and the two trees have 95 leaves between them representing the 95 pupils in Myddle School at the time.
There are three bells: The tenor bell on which the clock strikes, tuned to Bb, a second bell tuned to C but slightly flat in pitch, and the treble bell which is tuned to D.
The clock was erected by the parishioners of Myddle and others in commemoration of the coronation of Edward VII and the close of the Boer War, August 9th 1902.
If you would like to add to the Church Micro series yourself then please look here
http://churchmicro.co.uk/
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page that can be found at
http://www.15ddv.me.uk/geo/cm/index.html