St George's Church is on Church Street, Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Mottram, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield, and the diocese of Chester.[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[2] It was a Commissioners' church, having received a grant towards its construction from the Church Building Commission.[3]
St George's was built in 1831–32 to a design by T. W. and C. Atkinson.[4] A grant of £4,788 (equivalent to £560,000 in 2023)[5] was given towards its construction by the Church Building Commission.[3] It was originally a chapel of ease to St Mary's Church, Stockport.[6] A shallow chancel was added in 1882–83.[4] The interior of the church was remodelled in 1885, the pulpit being moved from its previous central position, the seating was changed, and the organ was relocated.[2] Considerable damage was done to the structure and furnishings of the church in the 1980s by dry rot.[4]
The church is constructed in stone with a slate roof.[2] Its architectural style is Gothic Revival.[3] The plan consists of a seven-bay nave with north and south aisles, a single-bay chancel, and a west tower. The tower is in three stages and contains a west door above which is a four-light window. The middle stage contains circular clock faces, and in the upper stage are two-light bell openings. At the top of the tower is a coped parapet. On the corners of the tower, and at the corners of the body of the church, are octagonal columns rising to form pinnacles.[2] Along the sides of the church are lancet windows.[4] The east window has five lights. On the wall of the south aisle is a sundial.[2] In 1838 a two-manual pipe organ by Samuel Renn was installed. This was rebuilt in 1912 by Ravensdale of Stockport, but is no longer in the church.[7] There is a ring of eight bells, all cast in 1920 by John Taylor and Company of Loughborough.[8]
Outside the church are two associated structures, both of which are listed at Grade II. At the entrance to the churchyard on the north side is a lychgate dated 1855. It consists of a stone base with octagonal stone piers and timber posts supporting a slate roof. The ridge of the roof consists of pierced tiles, and on the gables are cross finials.[9] To the northwest of the church is a hearse house constructed in stone with a slate roof. Its keystone is inscribed with the date 1841 and a skull and crossbones.[10] The churchyard contains memorial headstones commemorating six soldiers of World War I who buried in it, but whose graves are not individually marked.[11]
The list of vicars of St George's church, Hyde since the church was built in 1832; source:[12]