Church Of St Oswald

Church of St Oswald

Parish church at Crowle, primarily of 12th-century origin with significant later medieval additions and Victorian restoration.

The building consists of a west tower with a rectangular staircase projection to the north-east angle, a 4-bay nave with north aisle and south porch, and a 3-bay chancel with a 2-bay north chapel. The exterior is constructed of limestone ashlar with rock-faced ashlar to the south porch and ashlar dressings throughout. Roofing comprises lead to the north aisle, Westmorland slate to the nave, and Welsh slate to the chancel and south porch.

The 12th-century fabric is evident in the nave south and west walls and doorway, the chancel north wall, and parts of the north arcade. The 13th century saw construction of the chancel arch, the lower section of the tower, and the responds and portions of the outer arches of the north arcade. The 14th and 15th centuries brought new nave south windows, and the 15th century added the north aisle, clerestory, and upper stage of the tower, with a 15th to 16th-century arch to the north chapel. The nave was re-roofed in 1785 and the north aisle was taken down in 1792. The chancel was partially rebuilt in 1856, and major restorations were undertaken in 1884 by A S Ellis of London, including the rebuilding of the north arcade and north aisle. The south porch was rebuilt around 1900.

The three-stage tower has a chamfered plinth and string courses between its stepped-in stages. The first stage features a pointed chamfered south door with a string course at impost level, and a pointed 2-light west window with central mullion missing, showing moulded reveal with 2 keeled orders, the outer shafted, and an inner hollow-moulded surround with carved fleurons, though it has received poor 20th-century rendered repairs and glazing. The stair turret to the first stage has offsets and slit lights. The second stage has a chamfered slit light and small round window in square chamfered reveal to the west, with a slit light to the south. The upper stage displays pointed 2-light belfry openings with foiled Y tracery and hoodmoulds. A moulded string course runs below a plain coped parapet with original pinnacle bases to angles and centres of each side, now carrying heavy 19th and 20th-century square angle piers. A clock face is positioned to the east.

The nave south side displays a 15th to 16th-century square-headed 3-light window with partly restored Perpendicular tracery, and a pair of pointed 3-light Perpendicular traceried windows, the right one restored and the left a 19th-century copy. Above these is a complete 12th-century corbel table with carved heads, now much worn. The stepped-in clerestory has buttresses between bays and 3 round-headed 2-light windows with cinquefoiled Y tracery, hollow-moulded reveals and hoodmoulds. A moulded string course runs below a coped parapet with 2 gargoyles to the south and 3 to the north; the parapet features a restored pinnacle to the north-east angle, a stump of pinnacle to the centre north, with the remainder truncated. The roof is hipped to the east.

The south porch has a pointed moulded outer arch dying into chamfered jambs, with hoodmould, string course and coped embattled gable parapet. The inner face displays a fine 12th-century round arch of 4 orders: the inner 3 are shafted with capitals bearing scalloped, spiral and carved roundel ornament, while the arch features incised lattice moulding to the outer order, another order with chevrons and various pellets (some with faces), and 2 roll-moulded orders. Mounted within are 17th-century double doors with moulded ribs and iron studs, some diamond-headed.

The north aisle has a plain plinth and 19th-century pointed 2-light windows with Perpendicular tracery, hoodmoulds and plain stops.

The chancel has a chamfered plinth, angle buttresses and buttresses between bays with offsets, and a sill string course. The south side features a restored central pointed double-chamfered door and 19th-century lancets with hoodmoulds, while the east side has similar stepped triple lancets. A coped gable with cross finial crowns the east end. The north chapel has a chamfered plinth and single north buttress, with a pair of 19th-century pointed north doors—one chamfered, the other moulded—both with hoodmoulds. A 19th-century pointed 3-light window with Perpendicular tracery, hoodmould and plain stops faces north, and small triple east lancets with hoodmoulds light the east side.

The interior preserves significant medieval fabric. The tall narrow round-headed 12th-century tower arch, a former nave west door, has a heavy lintel at impost level and incised lattice decoration to the tympanum on the west side (the lintel is an 1884 replacement of an 11th-century decorated stone). A 17th-century door with trefoiled panels and iron studs now closes this opening. A square-headed chamfered doorway with oak board door leads to the stair turret.

The nave arcade comprises largely restored pointed arches with outer chamfered order, inner keeled order and rounded demi-order between, set on original keeled responds with moulded capitals and restored octagonal bases, and restored cylindrical piers with moulded capitals and bases. A moulded string course runs above. The pointed chancel arch has similar mouldings to the nave arcade but with a filleted inner order, set on responds where the outer chamfer dies into jambs with nook-shafts, and inner orders on octagonal shafts (partly restored to the north) with moulded capitals and water-holding bases on tall square pedestals. The chancel opens to the north chapel via a wide chamfered 4-centred arch on heavy octagonal responds (that to the west restored) with moulded capitals and bases. An exposed section of a 12th-century round-headed window arch is visible above to the west, and a round-headed window to the north side of the chancel is now in the vestry.

An important fragment of a decorated Anglo-Scandinavian cross shaft or monument is reset in the west bay of the nave arcade. Coarsely carved, it displays interlace to the east side, bold interlaced serpents to the north face, and a complex south face featuring a pair of flying dragons and sun-wheel above 2 figures in profile addressing each other, a figure on horseback with a sack (?) behind, and a runic inscription probably translatable as LIC BAECUN, meaning "memorial stone".

A small inscribed brass wall plate on the south side of the nave commemorates Stovin children of around 1784. The church contains a 19th-century carved octagonal font and late 19th-century stained glass in the nave and north aisle.