St Mary's Church, Acton

St Mary's Church is an active Anglican parish church located in Monk's Lane, Acton, a village to the west of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. Since 1967 it has been designated a Grade I listed building. A church has been present on this site since before the time of the Domesday Survey. The tower is the oldest in Cheshire, although it had to be largely rebuilt after it fell in 1757. One unusual feature of the interior of the church is that the old stone seating around its sides has been retained. In the south aisle are some ancient carved stones dating back to the Norman era. The architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor includes the church in his list of 'best' English parish churches. In the churchyard is a tall 17th-century sundial. The church is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Nantwich. Its benefice is united with those of St David, Wettenhall, St Oswald, Worleston, and St Bartholomew, Church Minshull.HistoryThe presence of a church with two priests on the site is recorded in the Domesday Book. The church and its lands were given by the second Baron of Wich Malbank to Combermere Abbey early in the 12th century. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, the advowson was granted to Richard Wilbraham and it then passed to the Lords Tollemache.