St Alkmund

St Alkmund’s stands on high ground near the northwest end of the town, at the top of the High Street, on the line of the north wall and ditch of the Roman town of Mediolanum. Its tall tower is visible from many locations around the town and beyond.

The current St Alkmund’s church building (probably the fourth church on the site) was the first of Shropshire’s grand neo classical style churches and was built in 1712/13. It was based on a design ‘after the Doricke order’ drawn by John Barker. Richard and William Smith of Tettenhall, Staffordshire constructed the church to a modified design, with a taller tower and without an extended order, with Barker working as carpentry subcontractor.

Built of pinkish Grinshill sandstone with cream coloured base course and other details, the church has a lead roof. The tower has four stages with balustrade and tall gadrooned urns. The round headed belfry openings have big clock faces on the north and south sides. Also on the south side, the arms of the 5th Earl of Bridgewater are present, together a semi circular porch rebuilt in 1925. On the north side, there is a doorway with oculus over and a steep set of steps.

The particularly fine clock mechanism is by JB Joyce of Whitchurch and dated 1849. The oak bell frame contains eight bells, seven of which were cast by Rudhall of Gloucester, five in 1714 and two in 1767; the other is by John Taylor and Co and dated 1842.

The body of the church is of six bays, plus a semicircular apse. The windows are tall and round arched, originally all with small glass panes in cast iron frames. One of the windows in the north aisle contains fragments of medieval glass. The windows in the apse are signed by Warrington, 1860, and depict the Ascension between images of St Peter and St Paul. In the south aisle the Jacob window (1868), by Ward and Hughes, is found between two windows of the late 1840s, with Romanesque bandwork in geometrical patterns.