Rostherne Church and Mere

Rostherne Church. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

Nestled in a tranquil corner of the County of Cheshire in the U.K. can be found the small village of Rostherne. In the village the Church of St Mary’s has a prominent position overlooking Rostherne Mere.

This body of water is recorded as having a depth of 103 feet, and 3,750 feet in width at its widest point, it also has the reputation of being the home to a Mermaid who makes her appearance once a year on Easter Sunday, she is heard singing and ringing a sunken bell which was lost in the lake whilst being transported to Rostherne Church.

Rostherne Mere which is said to be home to a Mermaid. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

Another part of the legend claims that the Mermaid reaches the Mere via a subterranean tunnel which is said to be linked to either the Irish sea or the river Mersey. However unlikely this may seem there has been in the past reports of a fish known as a Smelt found in the Mere which has the ability to pass from a salt water existence into fresh water where it spawns before returning to the sea, unfortunately the last smelt was caught in the 1920s, maybe there is a grain of truth to the legend after all!

Another interesting story associated with Rostherne church is the Lych-gate, which provides access to the churchyard, this in the past was carefully avoided by newly married couples, because it was believed that if they passed through it one of them would die during the first year of their marriage.

The Lych-Gate. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

The belief that the Lych-gate was associated with death would have been widespread in the past, this may explain why Lych-gate means corpse-gate, another explanation may stem from the fact that Pall Bearers would shelter under its roof with the coffin while waiting for the Priest to arrive.

Another interesting feature of this church can be found behind it, on one of its corners overlooking the Mere. It is said to be a Celtic head carved out of a piece of sandstone which has either hair or horns either side of its face. It has been speculated that it is associated with Cernives the horned God, it is said that the stone was pulled out of the Mere and that it was part of a Shrine.

A Celtic Head? Photo by Gary Tacagni.

Another explanation for this strange carving comes from a Mr Ingram who has spent many hours researching the head whilst working for the Greater Manchester Archeological unit. He believes it is possibly a Pagan object which was incorporated in the original church tower which collapsed in the middle of the eighteenth century, he is of the opinion that it resembles Coventina a water Goddess. I have come across some of these pagan images in other parts of Cheshire which were incorporated in churches and are known as Sheela-na-gigs, they depict an image of a woman showing her genitalia.

The photo above shows a pagan carving (Sheela-na-gig) which can be found on Gawsworth church, close to Macclesfield.