Under the altar is an under-ground chapel or sacristy, which at one time was unworthily used as a charnel-house, and when I visited it, in January, 1849, it was a place of deposit for bricks and rubbish; I am glad to hear that they have since been removed. With some difficulty I entered it from the churchyard, by an opening which exists under the large altar window. It is not vaulted with stone, as might have been expected, but the wooden floor near the altar forms its roof. Three recesses, resembling sedilia, in the Gothic style, and which, if they had been discovered near an altar, would be at once pronounced to be sedilia, are formed in the wall in front of the opening, and the centre one has an inclined groove on each side, cut into the stone, which rather conveys the impression as if a temporary desk, for reading, had formerly been sometimes fixed up there. It is lighted by loopholes, opening into the churchyard; and on the south side is a narrow winding staircase, of which many of the steps remain, which at one time gave access from the altar to it, but the communication is now built up. The steps in it commence under a plain Gothic arch, and the staircase was lighted by a loophole, which still remains.

The following is a list of the names of the various Rectors of Wilmslow, from 1339:—[259a]

Hugo Fitton.
1339—2nd September Thomas de Chatterton. Thomas Ffrost.
1412—28th April Galfridus Boseley. Willielmus de Bothe.
1418—26th Julii Georgius Radcliffe. Galfridus Boseley.
1419—11th September Georgius Radcliffe.
1425—20th October Ricardus Radcliffe.
1456— Radulphus Davenport.
1500—13th February Robertus Broke.
1522—Ante Henry Trafford, D.D. [259b]
1537—Circa Henry Ryle.
1542— Henry Trafford.
1591—30th September William Massie, B.D.
1610—27th August Thomas Wright.
1654—12th December, ante John Brereton.
1660— Thomas Wright.
1661—28th November Peter Ledsham.
1673—16th February Francis Mosley.
1699—24th August John Usherwood, A.M.
1705—9th December Joshua Wakefield.
1718—21st November Henry Moore, D.D.
1770—4th March Edward Berresford, A.M.
1787—16th April Croxton Johnson, LL.B.
1814—28th March Joseph Bradshaw, A.M.

The Rev. John Matthias Turner, D.D., afterwards Bishop of Calcutta, succeeded to the rectory about 1823, an interval having elapsed subsequent to the death of Mr. Bradshaw, about 1820, during which the living was in sequestration.

The present rector is the Rev. William Brownlow, M.A., who succeeded the Rev. Dr. Turner, in 1829.

Whilst describing Wilmslow Church, although I avow myself a Protestant, and a member of the Church of England, without any kind of leaning towards the Church of Rome, and without even admiration of her rites or ceremonies, I feel myself called upon, as an act of common justice to our Roman Catholic predecessors, to mention, that I have remarked, both in Wilmslow Church, and in various other ancient churches erected before the Reformation, that they appear better calculated for hearing, or, in other words, for the transmission of sound, than more modern churches; yet we might suppose that the large arches and massive pillars in the former would militate against that effect. It may be that the architects of an age gone by, understood the science of acoustics better than those of our time, and I throw out the suggestion (without giving any confident opinion), whether the pillars, arches, and carved oak roof, may not have the effect of preventing the too great number of pulses, or repetitions of sound in a given time, by returns from the walls, on the principle, that although the human voice in a large room, quite devoid of furniture, carpets, curtains, or a crowded assembly, will often produce a confused and indistinct echo, yet the resonance of the room becomes diminished, and the reverberation of sound becomes less, and consequently we can sometimes hear better, when the speaker is delivering his address in the room, when it is properly furnished, and contains a number of auditors. I may also add, that there is not any place of worship which I have been accustomed to attend, where I am more impressed (if so much) with feelings of devotion, than when attending divine service in this and other ancient churches erected before the Reformation; whether those feelings may arise from the reflection forcing itself upon the mind, that generations after generations of our fellow-creatures have worshipped there, and died since the walls of the sacred edifice were erected, or whether the massive walls, pillars, arches, and Gothic windows, naturally produce a certain degree of solemnity or seriousness on the mind, I cannot say; I can only speak to the effect which I have mentioned, be the cause what it may.

There is a very ancient chest in the vestry, in which are contained the parish books, which is said to be 500 years old. It is formed out of one solid block of oak, nearly four feet wide, by five feet long, and three feet deep.

On the north side of the altar, and erected as a continuation of the wing-wall before mentioned, is a very remarkable and perfect monument. On an altar-tomb, [261] and in flowing ecclesiastical robes, lies, the size of life, the effigy of Henry Trafford, who was rector of Wilmslow, both whilst the Roman Catholic religion was predominant here, and after the overthrow of the Papal supremacy. He obtained the living at least as early as 1522, and died in 1537; and the figure is interesting, as combining, so to speak, badges of both the old and the reformed religion. The head has the tonsure or shaven crown, but it rests upon a large clasped book, evidently intended for a Bible: a combination which I do not recollect having ever seen in any other monument. On the leaves of the Bible, parts of a short inscription are visible; but I was not able to read more than the words “ut non,” which are not very legible. Round the four upper edges of the tomb is the following inscription, which unfortunately is not cut, but painted on the stone, and although now legible, it is by no means certain that it will long continue so:—

“Hic jacet corp’ Mr. Henr’ci Treffort sacre theologie doctor lice’ciat quo’d’ ca’celarii metropolit’ eccl’ie Ebor’ et Rector de Holtō psōn Rector etia ’eccl’sie de Siglisthorn & i’ti eccl’ie qui obiit primo die me’s’ Augusti ann’ D’ni - - - MCCCCCXXXVII cuj’ ai’e o’ipote’s De’ sit p’pti’.”

In English the inscription reads thus:—