Seeking a new life for grade II* listed Christ Church, Bridge St, Macclesfield SK11 6EG. Built by silk and copper magnate, Charles Roe, in 1775.
Volunteers open the church to the public; the building is cared for by The Churches Conservation Trust. The Roe-naissance Project is a group of volunteers determined to find a new use for this grade two star listed church and put it back at the heart of Macclesfield's community life. We welcome new members who share our aims, and are actively working in partnership with The Churches Conservation
Trust (The CCT), who care for the building. Described as an 'engineering marvel' for its innovative use of cast iron in 1775, it is still a consecrated church but has been out of regular use since 1983. By opening the building to the public and sharing its history, Roe-naissance is building up a support and interest in this Georgian gem - and welcomes ideas about its reuse. Despite its rich cultural history, Macclesfield has a dearth of creative places for children, or facilities for young people to explore ideas and grow their ambitions. There are no dedicated performance venues for public or professional use. Christ Church could be part of the answer. Originally built for an evangelical young preacher, Christ Church also has a history of radical ideas and strong oratory. This heritage could also inspire ideas for a contemporary use. The church is free to visit on occasioanl open days and by appointment. Roe-naissance volunteers are developing Roe's Garden at the entrance to the church fom Bridge Street and green fingered helpers are always welcome. We are now planning events for the post covid era and these will be advertised on our page. The Roe-naissance Project wishes to thank The Christ Church (Macclesfield) Trust, dissolved in 2013, for its work in protecting and caring for the building for more than 25 years.
13/12/2022
Coming to Christ Church Macc CCM
Advanced weekend & Day Tickets are now on sale!
Party in the Pews 2023 at Christ Church Macc CCM
featuring Badly Drawn Boy The Futureheads Chris Helme UNE WINACHI Sea Fever Band Dirty Laces HEAVY SALAD Konkoma Maximum LoveGarden Orchestra Stepford Wives Sam Scherdel Ratoon Sophia Syndicate Between Thorns plus more TBA
We’ve got 4 returned tickets if anyone still need them Peter Hook & The Light
30/04/2022
Brilliant photography of Party in the Pews
30/04/2022
We love how people make use of our amazing box pews to get a better view at our events!
30/04/2022
The activities outside will be kicking off from 12 with bars, street food deckchairs and acoustic acts from 12-7
Come on down!!!!
28/04/2022
What 'blooming' lovely weather we're having! The flowers in Roe's garden are really coming out strong now. Especially the forget-me-nots which we're spreading about a bit.
A not so well timed quirk of Facebook means this page will be deleted in a week's time! To keep up with what we're doing, please like our new page...link below:
Want cake??
Saturday & Sunday of Party in the Pews we will be selling cake to raise vital funds for Christ Church Macc MCC to keep our church looking top! Come see us next to the second stage right in front of the church.
Grab a drink pull up a deck chair eat some 🍰 cake ❤️ and listen to the acoustic acts between sets on the church main stage
25/04/2022
Hi everyone pretty soon this page will be no more...... so could you all please follow Christ Church Macc MCC instead for info on all activities and event are beautiful venue has going on
25/04/2022
Check out the Party in the Pews fest on Cheshire Live Cheshire Live - What’s On Macclesfield - Cheshire Live
The site had a chat with organizer Jo as well as The Roe-naissance Project - Christ Church chair Dan and Louise from The Christie charity
Toploader, Peter Hook and Buzzcocks are on the bill
10/04/2022
We spent yesterday afternoon making the last grass cube. We hope people will start to use them for sitting 'on the grass' without having to get down on the floor! They will also never have dog muck on them!
The rusty cubes in the centre are the tables for your picnic! We'll improve the grass by adding additional seed occasionally and keeping them tidy by trimming them.
We almost completed the brick paths that run between the cubes, they just need some more sand in the joints.
The 4 square beds around these will gradually develop into prairie beds using drought-tolerant perennials.
All the materials were collected from local doners and from free-cycle giveaways.
10/04/2022
Any Peaky Blinders fans out there??? Christ church might look a little familiar…….
Here’s Tommy Shelby as played by Cillian Murphy soaking up the light through the stained glass ❤️
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Contact The Organisation
Send a message to The Roe-naissance Project - Christ Church:
The Roe-naissance Project is a group of volunteers working with the national charity The Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) to find a new use for grade II* listed Christ Church in Macclesfield. Our joint aim is to put it back at the heart of the local community and by opening up the building to the public and sharing its history, the hope is that support and interest will be engendered in this important Georgian gem.
Christ Church was described as an 'engineering marvel' for its innovative use of cast iron in 1775, it is still a consecrated church, but has been out of regular use since 1983. Originally built for an evangelical young preacher, Christ Church has a history of radical ideas and strong oratory. Could this heritage inspire a contemporary use? Macclesfield has a limited offering for young people to explore and grow ambitions and there are few dedicated performance venues for public or professional use.
Since 1983 The Christ Church (Macclesfield) Trust, cared for the building until it was dissolved in 2013. The Roe-naissance Project thank them for preserving the building for over 25 years.
In 2010, Barnaby Festival became a champion of Christ Church, opening it to the public for events such as community operas, rock concerts, stand up comedy, orchestral performances and family arts, exhibitions, talks and tours.
In 2013, a Peter Hook & The Light played the Joy Division canon - Macclesfield being the home of late lead singer Ian Curtis. And in 2014, Stephen Morris, also formerly of Joy Division, now in New Order, performed at Christ Church - a building he knew from childhood. It was his first home town centre gig!
In 2013, the community were surveyed to find out what Christ Church could offer. The feedback showed a dearth of children’s play space and a scheme was developed to show how Christ Church could be reimagined. The CCT look after some 350 redundant religious buildings across the country and as such their resources are stretched. They focus their energies on the most at risk. Christ Church suffers from not being in such a terrible condition, so the scheme never developed further.
Since then, The Roe-naissance Project volunteers continue to pursue avenues, with the backing of the CCT. Christ Church has no running water, toilet facilities nor heating system and our current aim is to develop ideas and support to install toilets and a small kitchen in order to attract a greater range of uses. In the meantime, we continue to seek out new ideas for events to generate an income despite the difficulties.
We welcome new members who share our aims and hope one day Christ Church will find a sustainable purpose within the diverse community of Macclesfield.
