Church Of St Bartholomew

The Church of St. Bartholomew is a church with fabric dating back to the 10th or 11th century, though the majority of the structure is from the 14th century, with extensive restoration and alterations occurring in 1874. It is constructed of granite rubble with limestone dressings and Swithland slate roofs. The church comprises a west tower, a nave with a north aisle, and a chancel, all under a single roof. The tower is wider than it is long, due to a partial collapse and subsequent rebuilding to a narrower width. It features angle buttresses, plain chamfered bell chamber lights with wood tracery, and an embattled parapet with simple finials. The south wall largely dates to 1874, filling a former 14th-century south arcade. Windows are predominantly in a Perpendicular style. A Victorian south door and porch are also present. Visible against the tower wall are two profiles of early roof structures. The chancel has a three-light Victorian window in a Decorated style. A renewed three-light Perpendicular window is in the north wall, alongside a blocked square-headed opening and doorway with a hollow and roll moulded architrave.

Inside, the west tower arch is from the early 13th century, characterized by a narrow, double-chamfered design, with a thick inner chamfer carried on heavy corbel heads. A blocked south arcade of three bays, dating from the late 13th or early 14th century, is double-chamfered with stops, octagonal shafts, and abaci. In contrast, the north arcade is from the 12th century, featuring low round shafts with projecting abaci and stepped segmental arches. The eastern bay cuts through the remains of an earlier round-headed window with voussoirs, providing the sole visible evidence for the church’s early origins. The nave roof is largely Victorian, incorporating medieval tie beams. The eastern-most bay alongside the chancel is a later 14th-century construction, featuring a double-chamfered arch and a semi-octagonal respond. Possible 17th-century communion table and an 18th-century altar rail are also present. Various 15th-century embossed patterned tiles are found in the north aisle. The east window contains glass in the style of Kempe, dating to 1896 and depicting Saints Bartholomew and Philip with Christ. Monuments in the north aisle include a memorial stone in a broken pediment crafted from black, yellow, and white marble, commemorating Charles Skrymsher Boothby, who died in 1774, with a dedication from his widow, Anne, who is also interred below. Another monument honors Henry Fawnt Esq., and Elizabeth, his third wife, featuring two recumbent effigies on a tomb chest beneath an aedicule with red-faced putti drawing back curtains. The carvings are crude but exuberant and painted, with an inscription detailing the children of all Henry's marriages, their deaths, marriages, and issue. The font is probably from the 12th or 13th century, with a round basin on a central shaft and four squared outer legs.