Photos

Built in 1673 the Forest Chapel (St Stephen's)at Langley is in Macclesfield Forest, in the Pennines. Though hardly any forest remains, the area gets it's name from what was an extensive royal hunting park in medieval times, subject to the monarch's direct rule. Most famously, it was one of the private hunting grounds of Edward the Black Prince in the 1300's, when deer, boar, wolves, and even bears were around. Because of it's remoteness, the area was one of the last in England to have such wildlife when other areas had been hunted out. Deer still roam the area.

A rush-bearing ceremony is still held every August in this church - remebering the time when floors were not timbered or stone, but rather were covered with rushes (a type of long grass) from the surrounding fields.