The church porch, which fronts the south, has been handsome, and much ornamented, but is now considerably defaced, and over the porch entrance is a handsomely carved niche with its canopy, {257a} which is said to have contained an image of Saint Bartholomew, the tutelary saint of the church; but at present, in lieu of the old saint, the niche is disfigured by an unsightly slab, or piece of stone, of a different colour to the rest of the stonework near it, let into the niche with an inscription, communicating the important fact, that certain good men were churchwardens some thirty or forty years ago. {257b} The fact of the existence on the walls of an old church, of niches, which contain, or formerly contained, images, is a sufficient proof, that they must have been erected, at least before the Reformation. On the south side of the nave of the church is a chapel, projecting into the churchyard, called the Hawthorn Chapel, which, in the last century but one, belonged to a junior branch of the Leighs, of Hawthorn Hall, near Wilmslow. The arms of Leigh, “argent, a lion rampant, gardant, gules,” with a crescent for difference, and also the crest of the family, appear painted over an arch, which connects it with the church, and also in stained glass in the window of the chapel. This chapel appears, from the style of its window, to have been rebuilt or altered, since the general prevalence of the Gothic style, but as some remains of inscriptions, in ancient characters, have been discovered on its walls, the inference is, that it is an old chapel rebuilt or much altered. Hawthorn Hall, and the estate belonging to it, afterwards came from the Leighs to the family of Page, who were the proprietors of it, and resided there, during a considerable part of the eighteenth century, and at last sold it to a person named Bower, and it is now used as a school. It is about half a mile from Wilmslow, and is an antique brick mansion, with large gables, and a small cupola, and much resembles the style of mansions which were in fashion during the reign of William III., said to have been adopted from the Dutch. The same armorial bearings, before mentioned, of the Leighs, with the crescent for difference, appears over the principal entrances, on the north and south fronts of the mansion; and on the lead spouts are the initials of one of the Leighs, J L, and the date, 1698; which probably may also give us a hint of the date of the rebuilding of the chapel. In my observations on Wilmslow Church, I ought not to omit mentioning, that in the churchyard, at the east end, is an ancient grave-stone, with the date 1596, and on the north side of the church is another, of the same date, inscribed with the names, “Phe. Dale.” {258}