Church Of St Mary The Virgin

SJ 46 PW SAIGHTON C.P. CHAPEL LANE (East side)

3/28 Church of St Mary the Virgin

1/6/1967 II*

Church with late Cll or early C12 chancel arch and, probably, masonry in nave and chancel; C14 and C15 windows; south chapel late C15; belfry, south porch, vestry and general restoration 1896 by W M Boden at expense of 1st Duke of Westminster. Squared, roughly coursed red sandstone in large blocks; slate roof; oak-framed, louvred west belfry on ridge with low, square shingled spire. Aisleless nave and chancel; four-centred archway from nave to chapel of 1 bay. Each respond of the chancel arch has 3 attached shafts, the outer two linked by 4 single beakheads which suggest Norse influence; the south capital has crudely carved foliage and faces - the north respond was renewed 1896. On the face to the nave of the porch arch (rebuilt probably C14) are 4 carved voussoirs with motifs probably derived from Norse sun symbols and from Romanesque palmettes. The font is a stone baluster with hollowed trough, probably C17. A pair of marble monuments stand in the south chapel: to Sir Robert Cunliffe, 1778, right, signed by Joseph Nollekens, with a seated putto holding a portrait medallion against a dark grey obelisk; to Sir Ellis Cunliffe, 1769, left, matching Sir Robert, but with a standing putto. Good stained glass, 1897, in the manner of the Arts and Crafts movement, in a plain inserted 3-light north window (Nave).

Listing NGR: SJ4376760548