St Michael's Church, Macclesfield

St Michael and All Angels Church overlooks Market Place in the town of Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Macclesfield. It forms a team parish with three other Macclesfield churches: All Saints, St Peter's and St Barnabas'. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.A church has been on the site since the 13th century. There have been two major reconstructions, the last being in 1898–1901. Two ancient chapels remain dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. Inside the church are a number of tombs and memorials, mainly to the memory of the Savage and Legh families.HistoryThe first church on this site was a chapel built around 1220, soon after the borough of Macclesfield was established. Around 1278 it was extended or rebuilt by Queen Eleanor, wife of Edward I and dedicated to All Saints or All Hallows. A chapel, known as the Legh chapel was built around 1442 for Sir Piers Legh who fought and died at the Battle of Agincourt. Between 1505 and 1507 the Savage Chapel, a larger chantry chapel, was built by Thomas Savage, Archbishop of York from 1501 to 1507.