St. Michael’s Church & The Old Vicarage

The church of St. Michael, rebuilt in the year 1797, on the site of the ancient one, is a substantial stone building in the Grecian style, with a finely proportioned square tower containing six bells (hence the name of the nearby pub — “The Six Bells”)and a clock; the interior consists of nave, aisles and galleries and a fine toned organ (by Walter of London); it has sittings for upwards of 1,000 persons, of which 400 are free. The living is a vicarage, value £300 yearly, with residence and 25 acres of glebe land in the gift of two trustees; the Rev. George Edward Yate MA is vicar.(Description from the 1863 Post Office Directory for Shropshire.) Unusually for an Anglican church, the rood screen includes a carving of St. Joan of Arc — it was bought at a bargain price having originally been intended for a Catholic church Photo March 2000

The grave of John Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley 1759 — 1785 Fletcher, born in Switzerland Jean Guillaume de la Flechere, was a close friend of Charles Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism,who regularly preached in Madeley Click here to return to Fletcher Methodist Church

The Old Vicarage, once the home of John Fletcher. If you look closely at the photo you will see that almost all of the windows are fakes — this was to reduce the amount of window tax payable in the eighteenth century Return to Historic Buildings & Sites Site Contents Homepage