About our Church
Baptisms
Baptisms at St Maxentius Church are held every 2nd Sunday in the month at 12.45 pm
We can accommodate up to four children or candidates each month, bringing 50 guests each. In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to arrange baptisms at another time (with sufficient notice and subject to availability)
To make a booking, please contact Chris Sutcliffe, the Team Administrator, on:
Mobile:
07458 332893
Please be aware that the Team Office is only staffed part-time – please leave a message and we will respond as soon as we are able.
Email: [email protected]4
Weddings
The Church of England thoroughly believes in marriage for the wellbeing of individuals and society. If you have found ‘the one’, and you are committed to each other in every respect, there is so much more adventure ahead. We would be thrilled to be part of that adventure too.
There are some things about marrying in church that are unique and special. The Church of England has developed a website dedicated to helping you plan your wedding including legal aspects, ceremony vows and planner plus a find a church facility.
St Maxentius is a beautiful church in which to hold your wedding ceremony and can hold up to 300 guests.
Weddings at St Maxentius are arranged by appointment.
To make a wedding enquiry, please contact Chris Sutcliffe, the Team Administrator, on:
Mobile: 07458 332893
Please be aware that the Team Office is only staffed part-time – please leave a message and we will respond as soon as we are able.
Email: [email protected]
Baptism, Weddings & Funerals
Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals should be booked by contacting the Team Administrator.
Funerals
The funeral of a loved one acknowledges the closing of a human life on earth. A church funeral service is an opportunity for family and friends to gather in a parish church to express their grief, give thanks to God and celebrate a life that has completed its journey through this life, and to commend the soul of the departed into God’s eternal keeping.
A funeral service conducted at St Maxentius can be very short and quiet with only a few members of a family present, or an occasion of great solemnity with music, hymns, a eulogy offered by one of the mourners, the inclusion of favourite readings, and a full church. It is also possible for the body of the deceased to lie in church the night before a funeral service, and for a Requiem Eucharist to be held as part of the funeral ceremony.
Normally arrangements for funerals are made by your Funeral Director but we are happy to speak to families direct as well.
Graveyard
For more information on burials and interments of cremated remains, please contact Chris Sutcliffe, the Team Administrator:
Mobile: 07458 332893
Please be aware that the Team Office is only staffed part-time – please leave a message and we will respond as soon as we are able.
Email: [email protected]
Please see our Graveyard Policy in Church for further details.
A Guide to Church of England Parochial Fees
The Exterior of St Maxentius Church
The Interior Features of St Maxentius Church
The History of St Maxentius
Located in Bolton
St Maxentius’ Church, Bradshaw, is located in Bradshaw, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Walmsley, the archdeaconry of Bolton and the diocese of Manchester. Its benefice is united with those of five other local churches. Standing separately from the church is the tower of an earlier church. The present church is dedicated to Saint Maxentius, an obscure French saint, and is the only church in England with this dedication.
The earliest documentary evidence of a church at Bradshaw is in 1641–42, although a map of 1610 shows the presence of a chapel. This church was dedicated to Saint Mary. By 1722 the fabric of the church was in a bad condition, although it seems that it was then repaired. A new church was built of brick and stone in 1770. By the middle of the 19th century this church had become dilapidated, and it was too small for its congregation. A new church was designed by the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley. Its construction was slow, starting in 1863, and not being completed until 1872. It was consecrated on 9 November 1872 byRt Revd James Fraser, Bishop of Manchester.
Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society
Members of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society who visited the church on 16 September 1899 were able to see the tower of the “old church” (presumably the 1770 construction) alongside the new church. The vicar at the time was the Revd R. K. Judson, MA. The report of the antiquarians’ visit, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Gilbert J. French, son of local antiquarian Gilbert James French, notes that the church is the only one in England dedicated to Saint Maxentius. Colonel French speculated that the church’s dedication to a Norman saint could be traced to the area’s post-conquest history, with Roger de Poictou being appointed the first Earl of Lancaster and first lord of the manor of Bolton by his cousin William the Conqueror. French believed this suggested that a church had existed in Bradshaw at an early date. Maxentius lived much of his life in Poitou.
Building & Grounds
Church
The architectural style of the church is Decorated, and its windows have Geometric tracery. Its plan is cruciform, consisting of a long nave, transepts, a chancel, and a vestry. At the west end is a bellcote. The nave has a hammerbeam roof. The font is octagonal and is dated 1550. Above the partition of the north transept is a mosaic dating from the 1960s, depicting the life of Saint Maxentius. The stained glass includes two windows by Shrigley and Hunt. The glass in the east window dating from 1896 was probably designed by Almquist. In the south transept is an abstract window from the 1950s, possibly by R. Hayes.
Tower
The tower dates from 1640 and is constructed in coursed rubble. It is in two stages with diagonal buttresses. At the summit is a cornice and a battlemented parapet with splayed merlons. On the east side of the tower is a pair of doors, and on the north side is a blocked two-light straight-headed window. The bell openings have round heads. The tower has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.