Church Of St Brandon

Church of St Brandon, Brancepeth

A parish church with a complex building history spanning from the late 12th to 19th centuries. The church comprises a late 12th-century tower, an early 13th-century aisled nave, late 13th to early 14th-century east bay and transepts, and a chancel. Significant late medieval alterations include the widening and extension of the aisles in the 14th century to engage the tower, the rebuilding of the chancel, extension of the south transept to the east, and the addition of a north chapel and nave clerestory in the 15th century. A north porch was added around 1630, followed by a 19th-century south porch and various restorations. The chancel roof dates to 1638 and was commissioned by Rector John Cosin from Robert Barker.

The building is constructed of dressed sandstone for the chancel, north chapel, and east bay of the south transept, with squared and rubble stone used elsewhere. Lead roofs cover the structure throughout.

The west tower is a four-stage unbuttressed structure engaged by the aisles. It features round-headed loops on the second stage, paired lancets above, and an embattled parapet on a corbel table. The aisled nave has a three-bay arcade with three-light clerestory windows between thin buttresses. The buttressed aisles feature pointed windows with largely restored curvilinear tracery. The three-bay chancel is buttressed with a chamfered plinth and pointed windows displaying Perpendicular tracery. A defaced stone panel on the south-east buttress of the chancel shows Christ in a mandorla. The diagonally-buttressed transepts have pointed windows with curvilinear tracery, as do the north and south chapel windows. Roofs are low-pitched behind parapets. The north porch, added by Cosin, displays pointed doorways (blocked on the west return) framed by pilasters with strapwork and friezes bearing the Cosin Arms and cherub heads. A semicircular pediment decorates the front with battlements on the returns. The south porch is gabled.

Interior

The interior features pointed double-chamfered arches to the tower, three-bay nave arcades, and chancel, the latter arch having been moved one bay to the east in the late 13th century. The arcades rest on octagonal piers with moulded capitals and are set beneath hoodmoulds. An elaborate 15th-century wooden nave roof displays carved bosses. Between the south transept and chancel is a 15th-century ribbed wooden tunnel vault with bosses containing shields, a crocketed extrados, and a crowning angel bust.

The wooden fittings form a remarkable assembly largely installed by Cosin between 1630 and 1640, executed in two distinct styles. The first is contemporary Jacobean work with strapwork and Classical motifs, including the nave pews, box pews, and family pews with an accompanying pulpit. The second is an explicitly Gothic Revival style featuring poppyheads, tracery, and some Classical motifs and strapwork, evident in the font cover, rood screen, choir stalls, and chancel panelling. A reredos incorporates reused 15th-century Perpendicular panelling. An altar in the south transept was made by Thompson of Kilburn from a 14th-century Flemish chest with Flamboyant tracery. A 1628 Communion table with six legs and a contemporary rail are also present. The 1638 chancel roof features a flat rib vault and ceilure above the altar with lierne ribs and bosses displaying winged angels. Two carved wooden fragments above the chancel arch survive: one with Gothic ribs, cresting, and Instruments of the Passion (possibly contemporary with the Cosin fittings), and another with square panels containing Flamboyant tracery. The font cover was raised on four iron posts in 1972 by G.G. Pace.

Monuments and Glass

The church contains a large cross-legged stone effigy of Robert Neville (died 1319), recumbent wooden effigies of Ralph Neville (died 1484) and his wife, and a stone tomb chest of Ralph Neville (died 1523). Brasses commemorate Thomas Claxton (died 1403) and Richard Drax (died 1456). Several 17th and 18th-century floor slabs and wall monuments are also present. Windows include three possible Flemish roundels in the north aisle window and a Boyne testimonial window of 1864 by Blackmore of London.

Historical Note

John Cosin (1595-1672), Rector of Brancepeth from 1620 to 1646 and subsequently Bishop of Durham from 1660 to 1672, was responsible for sumptuous fittings in several churches throughout County Durham, including the Cathedral. Brancepeth Church represents the most complete example of his work.