It has preserved its authentic form and furnishings in Baroque and Rococo styles.

History of the structure

The earliest mention of Szczury comes from 1403. The existence of the parish church is confirmed by the sources from 1447. The present wooden church, erected in 1762 in the place of an earlier temple, was founded by the local parish priest Kazimierz Kędzierski. In the second half of the 18th century, a bell tower was built next to the church. Between 1886 and 1871 the interior was restored. In 1928 the foundations of the building were replaced. The church underwent restoration works in 1949, 1954, 1967,1970, 2000, 2010.  In 1967 the interior and furnishings of the church were renovated, and in 1970 the roofing was replaced. The bell tower was destroyed in 2008 and rebuilt on a new site. In 2010, the roof truss structure was reinforced, new shingle roofing and new gutters were installed.

Description of the structure

Szczury, a village located about 7 km from Ostrów Wlkp., by road no. 11 Poznań-Katowice. The Church of St. Michael the Archangel, located in the eastern part of the village, by the main road, is surrounded by a brick and wooden fence, with two gates and wickets on the north and south sides and a third gate leading to the rectory.

The church is oriented, one-nave, built on a rectangular floor plan. The chancel, narrower than the nave, closes in a semi-hexagon. A sacristy adjoins the chancel on the north, the nave on the west and the porches on the north.

The church with a slightly lower chancel is covered by high gable roofs. The roof over the closure of the chancel turns into a three-slope roof. The sacristy and the porches are covered with lower roofs: single-pitched over the sacristy and gabled over the porches. The whole is dominated by a ridge turret with a hexagonal lantern topped with a tin bulbous cupola. All roof planes are covered with wood shingles.

The wooden log construction is set on a stone and brick foundation. The walls were reinforced with vertical supports on both sides and planked vertically. Over the nave there is a queen post roof truss, over the chancel - a collar and queen post construction. The interior of the nave is covered with flat wooden ceilings with plank soffit, in the sacristy and in the porch with beam ceilings. All window and door portals are preserved in their original profiled frames.    

The furnishings of the church include: three altars from the 3rd quarter of the 18th century, a pulpit and baptismal font from the end of the 18th century. Noteworthy is the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary and Child - the Queen of Consolation, found during the renovation of the church in 1967, which was probably removed from the main altar during work in 1886.

Visitor access. The site can be accessed from the outside. Visiting the church inside is possible by prior telephone arrangement. More information, including the Holy Mass schedule, is available on the website.

Compiled by: Radomiła Banach, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 29.08.2017

Bibliography

• E. Callier, Powiat kaliski w XVI wieku, pp. 153-154
• Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego, Vol. VII,
• Drewniane kościoły w Wielkopolsce, koncepcja, teksty i wybór fotografii P. Maluśkiewicz, Poznań 2004, p. 252.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, Vol. V, z. 16: powiat ostrowski, Warsaw 1961
• M. Olejniczak M., Powiat ostrowski. Przewodnik [Tourist guide], Ostrów Wielkopolski 2007