Birtles St Catherine, Cheshire Genealogy

History
Birtles, St Catherine, Cheshire is a former private chapelry which became a parish in the Macclesfield Deanery of the Chester diocese.

Built in 1840 as a private chapel to the nearby Birtles Hall, St Catherine's became the parish church for Over Alderley &amp; Birtles in 1890. The parish is a small and scattered community of farms and houses set in rolling Cheshire countryside. The whole area is steeped in history and copper mining took place for many centuries at nearby Alderley Edge. There are intriguing Arthurian legends linked to the Wizard of the Edge.

The church is a brick-built with a stone roof and is a grade 2 listed building, it is located in Birtles Lane opposite the Highlees Wood and is beautifully furnished with old wooden carvings, superb stained glass and has a peaceful atmosphere. Much of the stained glass within the church is mediaeval and can be viewed at www.cvma.ac.uk. St Catherine's has an entry in "England's Thousand Best Churches" (Simon Jenkins) Page 57.



Church Records
Prestbury, St. Peter (C of E). The ancient parish church for Birtles.

Birtles, St. Catherine (C of E). Built in 1840 as a private chapel, becoming the parish church for Birtles and Over Alderley in 1890. Registers of Baptisms from 1890, Marriages from 1892 and Burials from 1891 are still at the church (Baptisms 1842–1890 have been lost).

Non-Conformist Churches
None

Poor Law Unions

 * Macclesfield
 * Macclesfield Poor Law Union,Cheshire

Registration Districts

 * Macclesfield (1837–1937)