History of St Chad's Church

Constructed mainly from local red sandstone, additions and restoration took place in the 15th and 16th centuries and the tower is thought to have been added in about 1679. The result is the fine perpendicular building that exists today.

Our church is one of the treasures of Holt. Once in the diocese of Lichfield, it was dedicated to St Chad, the diocesan founder who died in AD 672. Originally under the patronage of the Lords of Bromfield and Yale the oldest parts of the church are contemporary with Holt Castle and date from the 13th century when the town of Holt was founded.

In 1347 the Lordship passed to the Earls of Arundel of the FitzAlan family, a branch of the House of Howard. In 1415 the male line became extinct and the lordship was divided between three and eventually just two branches of the female line of the Fitzalans. From Elizabeth Fitzalan, Duchess of Norfolk, it passed into the hands of her grandson, Sir William Stanley, Lord Chamberlain, through the grant of King Henry Tudor. Sir William was at the time the richest man in England.

He heightened the church, rebuilt some of the walls, widened the aisles by the nave extending them alongside the chancel to create new chapels and inserted new windows.

The church was the scene of fierce fighting during the English Civil War (1642-1649), as Parliamentary forces occupied the building. Musket ball marks remain as reminders of this conflict in the west wall of the church, near the font.

Just inside the west door is a carving of a mitred head, a fragment of a medieval bench end. This head is thought to represent St Chad, the first Bishop of Lichfield. In 1872 the head was removed from the church during restoration work and ended up at Holt Hall, where it served as a newel post. When the Hall was demolished in the 1940s the head was returned to the church.

Towards the east end of the south aisle is a grave slab carved with a skull and crossed bones.

The font is late medieval and is composed of eight sides, each bearing a heraldic shield, most of which depict arms of the Lords of Bromfield and Yale. Included are wonderful animal carvings including a stag's head and a lion. The underside of the font bowl is decorated with fascinating carved heads, the sort you would normally see on gargoyles.