Church Of St Mary

MORCOTT SK 90 SW CHURCH LANE (East side) 5/94 Church of St. Mary 10.11.55

GV I Parish Church, largely of C12 to C13 with some later additions and alterations. Tower, nave with clerestory and 2 aisles, chancel. C12 west tower, now rendered over except for quoins and dressings, embattled, three stages. West door is Norman, with paired heavily sculpted shafts and cushion capitals, its top was altered in C14 to a pointed arch, and the outer shafts carry the outer arch of a paired traceried light above. In the second stage is a heavily moulded Norman oculus, cut by a C14 traceried niche. Single round headed light on south wall also. Paired C14 traceried lights to bell chamber. Stumpy spire above. South aisle, clerestory and chancel are of coursed rubble. Windows in aisle are decorated paired traceried lights. South door is C12, a round arch, with flat voussoirs and chamfered architrave very plain. The porch is C14 with coped gable and double chamfered archway with hoodmould and corbel heads. Ball flower frieze on its east wall. Clerestory is corbelled out slightly on west wall, indicating its later build and has paired lights with squared heads and stilted hoodmoulds. Frieze with small faces etc. Remains of finials on copings. Buttressed chancel has small round arched priests door with voussoirs, similar to south doorway, and decorated traceried lights, tall lowside window to south with paired lancets and unfoiled circle. North chapel has pointed arched doorway with carved heads as corbels and at apex. Both this and the north aisle are of squared rubble, they are a different build from the rest of the fabric and the result of a restoration of 1874.

Inside, the Church is mostly Norman, with tower arch and nave arcade of two bays, late C12 to early C13. Tower arch and north arcade have round roll-moulded arches on circular piers, and the tower arch has smaller shafts to responds as well. Cruciform abaci and capitals of arcade are richly carved with foliage crockets and masks, each different, with interlace on the easternmost, and a tall chevron to the west. South arcade is slightly later, still round arched but more simply moulded with double chamfer and round abaci, and sparser crockets etc. The chancel arch is later still, Early English pointed, double chamfered, with nail head decoration in the responds. The chancel is very spacious and has an Early English arch to north chapel, and a C17 altar table. The pulpit is Elizabethan, richly carved with blank arcading. Fragments of an earlier stall and lectern survive with poppy-head decoration. Tomb recess in south aisle contains an incised slab, C15. Foiled agee piscina also in south aisle. Font has a plain square basin with chamfered corners making it almost an octagon. Two hatchments over tower arch. C15 timbered king post roof to nave.

Listing NGR: SK9246300786