Prees

St Chad

SY134 2EE

The historic and beautiful Church of St Chad's is largely 14th-century but is built on a Saxon site; it has an 18th-century tower and contains a notable window made up of fragments of medieval glass brought to Prees from the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403. The church is Grade 2* listed. St Chad's is part of the PEW group of churches in North Shropshire - working together with St Chad's Prees and St Mary the Virgin Edstaston.

WINDOW APPEAL

St Chad’s Church. Prees, contains medieval stained glass originally installed in Battlefield Church and possibly commissioned by King Henry IV in the mid 1400s. The glass is believed to have been designed by one of the greatest artists of the period – the glass master, John Thornton, who was responsible for the world-famous Great East window in York Minster.

This great artwork is therefore a national treasure – but in the village of Prees! (And unlike York Minster, which costs about £18 to go into and the glass is rather too high to be able to see, you can see our glass for free, at any time and close up!). The problem is that it is now in a really worrying condition and desperately needs major conservation – both the glass and the surrounding stonework need urgent attention. Condition reports make this really clear: “The … glass corrosion issues, paint loss issues, localised failures in the lead net, and failure of the associated metalwork and stonework are all worse than reported in 2014, and continue to pose a live threat to this heritage asset of exceptional significance.’

We need to act now – but the estimated cost is a total of £44,700 plus VAT, plus a contingency of 20%.

Can you help? Please see attached leaflet for more information or go to: https://gofund.me/4690f59d

Thank you!
DOWNLOAD A FASCINATING PDF ABOUT THE BATTLEFIELD WINDOW APPEAL HERE

TEXT AND PICTURES FROM 'A CHURCH NEAR YOU'

This church does not appear in the current edition of 'A Guide to Shropshire's Churches', but is a member of Shropshire Churches Tourism Group.