The Church of St Mary the Virgin is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Nantwich.
The present church was built in 1827–28 to a design by George Latham. In 1884 the chancel was lengthened, and a transept was added and in 1905 further alterations were made. The building is Grade II listed.
The Grade II listed description given by Historic England reads as follows:
"WISTASTON C.P. CHURCH LANE SJ 65 SE 8/105 Church of St Mary the Virgin. (Formerly listed as Church of 12.1.67 St Mary)
GV II
Church, dated R.P.1827 on inscribed brick, by George Latham of Northwich with additions and alterations of 1884 and 1905. Red Flemish bond brick with a slate roof. Western tower, nave and chancel. Astylar Tower of three stages and of square plan. Western face: stone plinth common to whole building. Slightly projecting door surround with stone surrounded pedimental top. C19 double doors with fanlight over. Abutting the door surround is a ½-glazed barrel-vaulted walkway connecting the church with the parish hall of 1905. (Neither the walkway nor the hall are listed). Stone band above, Square window to the ringing chamber of 3 x 2 panes with a stone sill. Stone band above this below the belfry stage which has an arched window set in a relieving arch with a stone band at the level of the springing. Cyma-moulded string course above this below the level of the parapet which has stone corner piers with obelisk finials. The North and South sides have quarter-circular projections joining them with the western end of the nave at the level of the lowest stage. These each have one-quarter conical roofs. Above this both sides are similar to the western face save that the window of the bell chamber is replaced by a circular stone clock face with a moulded edge. Nave: North face; four round-arched windows with stone sills and a central stone panel which is rectangular and blank. Similar to south side but with a projecting lower transept to right hand bay of 1882 in similar style to the earlier building and with 2 round-arched windows to the west and one to the east and southern sides. Hipped roof. The vestry which has a keyed oculus window adjoins the east side and also the chancel which was rebuilt and extended in 1882 and has one southern and two northern windows and three eastern lights all of round arched form and all having panelled ashlar surrounds. The eastern gable end has a gable in the form of an open pediment.
Interior: The nave ceiling has 3 Panels, the central one being octagonal with a large rosette to the centre bordered with anthemia. The chancel screen is richly moulded and has an inscription - TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF EDWARD DELVES BROUGHTON DIED OCTOBER 6th 1889. Oak panelling to chancel with oval sunflowers to the upper panels and Agnus Dei and Alpha and Omega signs to the reredos. The right hand chancel window is to a design of Burne-Jones and was made by William Morris and Co. Source: Nikolaus Pevsner - The Buildings of England : Cheshire and Edward Hubbard
Listing NGR: SJ6813053625"
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"St Mary's Church
There has been a church or chapel on or near the present site for nearly 700 years. The first record of a Rector goes back to 1379. The first church would have been a black & white building made of wood. Existing records start in 1572 probably resulting from Cromwell's edict that churches kept records. That first re-build took place probably on the site of our existing church and almost certainly did not alter until 1827. In that year the decision was taken that 'due to decay it was unsuitable for public worship'. It was also resolved to take down that building and erect a new church on the upper original site. The estimated cost of the new 'barn like building' was £1,038.The bricks used were quarried and made locally. The new church was consecrated in July 1828.The church wardens of the day were faced with High Court writs and threatened with loss of their property to meet the debts incurred though this was settled when the parish agreed to underwrite the costs. The next major alteration came 50 years later when the Chancel was extended, the Vestry and the South Transept was built with small pews for the children. The old north door was closed and a new entrance created at the west end of the church.The choir vestry was built in 1905 and a covered way linking the two was brought into use the next year. The church hall was erected near to the church in 1967.
In 2004 we completed a refurbishment programme in the church hall taking into consideration current disability legislation. We have also made improvements to the Church building.
In 2006 we refurbished the choir vestry by carrying out major modernisation to toilets, drainage, heating and catering needs and also to more easily accommodate disabled people.
In September 2008 new lighting was installed in the chancel and the interior of the nave, chancel and entrance porches were completely re-decorated with colours to give a light refreshing appearance. The bell ringing chamber and stairs were also redecorated and re-carpeted.
We are continuing to look for ways to improve our buldings to make them attractive and welcoming to visitors and congregation alike. We would like to improve access up the relatively steep entrance path to the north of the building but costs at present make this difficult.
All this is part of our continuing policy of improvement in our efforts to serve the people of our parish.
We meet for worship on Sundays at 10.40 a.m. Full details of our varied parish programme can be found on the page 'Worship at our churches'. We also offer a service of Holy Communion using the Book of Common Prayer every Wednesday morning at 10.00 a.m. All are welcome to join us at any time."
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The churchyard contains the war graves of three soldiers and an airman of World War I, and three soldiers of World War II. It also contains the local war memorial.
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