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| Chapel with daffodils, April 2008 |
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| Chapel with daffodils, April 2008 |
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| Chapel with daffodils, April 2008 | East Window | |
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| The Body of the Church | Pulpit and Altar |
Macclesfield Forest was created by the Earls of Chester and became a Royal Forest in 1237. It was used by the monarch for hunting until the 14th century. Forest chapel was first built in 1673 but the present building dates from 1834. It is famous for its rush bearing service each August which attracts many visitors.
St. John the Evangelist or Jenkin Chapel at Saltersford was erected in 1733 and its tower in 1754/5. It is not in a village but served a scattered population in the district. The name Jenkin is derived from Jenkin Cross, one several crosses in the forest area. Local legend holds that it was named after a Welsh sheep dealer who travelled regularly to the valley from Ruthin in the 18th century. Nearby too are the Blue Boar stone and Pym's Chair. The chapel was funded largley but not solely by John Slack. There was an inscription on three stones in the tower wall above the porch which read as follows "St. John Bapts. Free Chapel was June the 24th 1733 erected at John Slack's expense; in 1739 it was made sacred for the worship of Almighty God". The Cheshire Historian, Earwaker, noted the inscription was very worn in 1880 but it has since been defaced. The chapel appears to have been rededicated to St. John the Evangelist in 1794. There was a chapel register from 1770 and the list of ministers, going back to 1734 begins with Charles Hadfield.
Sources
The Buildings of England, Cheshire, by Nikolaus Pevsner and Edward Hubbard, Yale University Press, 2003, ISBN 0 300 09588 0
Old Cheshire Churches, with a supplementary survey of the lesser old chapels of Cheshire, completely revised and enlarged by Raymond Richards, first published in 1947 and reprinted by E. J. Morten, Didsbury, 1973.
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