St Margaret's Church, Prestwich 2.86

The Parish Church of St Margaret is a Church of England parish church situated on St Margaret's Road, off Bury Old Road (A665) in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England. The Grade II listed church, in the Diocese of Manchester, was designed in the Decorated style by the Manchester architects Travis and Mangnall in 1849 as a chapel-of-ease to the ancient Prestwich Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin. Opened in 1851, it was extended in 1863, 1871, 1884, 1888 and 1899, and is notable for its fine Arts and Crafts wood carvings by Arthur Simpson of Kendal and late twentieth-century fittings. The church's daughter church of St George, Simister, is in the same parish.HistoryFoundationIn the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, the population of Prestwich was growing at an unprecedented rate, having risen from 470 in 1714 to 5,152 by 1849. The site of St Margaret's was given by the 2nd Earl of Wilton, the first of many gifts the Earl was to make to the young church over the latter half of the century. In 1884 the great west window, depicting the Parable of the Good Samaritan was erected by the parishioners to his memory. The name of the new church was chosen after the rejection of the original suggestion of St Thomas (arising from a desire to pay a compliment to Thomas, Earl of Wilton). Eventually the dedication of St Margaret of Antioch, Virgin Martyr was selected. At one time, there had been a chantry in Prestwich Parish Church dedicated to St Margaret the Virgin.