Church Of St Luke

Church of St Luke

This is a major parish church of medieval origins, begun in the 12th century and substantially developed through the 13th and 14th centuries. The porch was added in the late 18th century, and the chancel underwent restoration in 1859. The building is constructed of coursed and squared ironstone and limestone ashlar with ashlar dressings and lead roofs.

The church comprises a west tower with spire, a nave with clerestory, north and south aisles, a chancel, and a south chantry chapel, with a south porch.

The west tower dates to the 13th and 14th centuries and rises in three stages. It has a moulded plinth and sill band, two string courses, and an eaves band decorated with masks. Four shallow angle buttresses support the structure. The tower is crowned with an octagonal broach spire displaying three tiers of gabled lucarnes with double lancet openings, topped with a finial and weathercock. The west face contains, to the first stage, a chamfered single lancet; to the second stage, a clock and single lancet. The bell stage has bar-traceried double lancets on each face with heavily moulded reveals and hood moulds with mask stops.

The nave's clerestory contains four bays with a ballflower frieze and coped gable with kneelers and finial. The north side has four Decorated ogee double lancets with moulded mullions and reveals; the south side has four similar lancets, the easternmost being untraceried. All these windows feature hood moulds and mask stops.

The north aisle, dating to the mid 14th century, extends five bays and has a deep moulded plinth, sill and impost bands, and a coved frieze with masks. A parapet with stepped crenellations is topped with a single gargoyle to the west. The aisle is supported by two double gabled angle buttresses and four double gabled intermediate buttresses, all topped with pinnacles and gargoyles. The north side displays a moulded ogee-headed central doorway with triple shafts and hood mould, flanked on each side by two ogee triple lancets with shafts and flowing tracery. All these windows have hood moulds and mask stops. The west end has a Decorated four-light lancet with double shafts, hood mould and mask stops. The east end contains, to the left, a 19th-century buttress supporting a stack in the form of a pinnacle, and a Decorated four-light lancet with shafts and hood mould.

The chancel, comprising two bays, dates to the early 14th century. It has a chamfered plinth and eaves, moulded sill band, and coped gable with cross. The north side features, to the east, a triple lancet with intersecting tracery and, to the west, an ogee double lancet, both with hood moulds and mask stops, and a chamfered doorway added in 1859. The east end has two diagonal buttresses with setoffs and an untraceried stepped five-light lancet with hood mould and mask stops. The south side has, to the east, a cusped ogee double lancet with four-centred arched head and hood mould, and to the west, a triple lancet with intersecting tracery.

The south aisle's east end has a moulded plinth and sill band, a frieze with ballflowers, and two angle buttresses with setoffs. The east end contains a cusped ogee triple lancet with double shafts. Along the south side, to the east of the porch, there is a buttress, and further east, a Geometrical triple lancet. Both windows have hood moulds with a single stop.

The chantry chapel, a two-bay structure positioned west of the porch and dating to the mid 14th century, has a moulded plinth and sill band, continuous hood moulds, a frieze with flowers, and a stepped crenellated parapet and gable. The south side has two buttresses and an angle buttress to the west, all with crocketed canopies and topped with pinnacles, those to the south side being incomplete. The west end features a central moulded doorway with shafts. Above it is an inserted heavily moulded segmental triangle window, both enclosed by a shaped crocketed hood mould. Above this is a blank arcade with crocketed canopies and three niches with nodding ogee hoods. The south side has two Geometrical triple lancets with shafts.

The late 18th-century south porch has a coped gable and plain round-headed doorway with keystone. A sundial is positioned above the doorway. The interior contains moulded stone benches and a roof of re-used timber. A double roll-moulded early 13th-century doorway with keeled shafts, single-leaf capital, hood mould and mask finial leads into the church.

The interior retains a triple chamfered 13th-century tower arch with octagonal responds, above which sits a small doorway. The tower base contains, to north and south, a blind chamfered arch. The north and south arcades, dating to the 13th and 14th centuries, extend five bays with octagonal piers and responds bearing various moulded capitals and low walls between the piers. The two easternmost south piers have round seat bases. Double chamfered arches feature hood moulds with mask stops. The clerestory contains windows with hood moulds and a low-pitched roof with cambered span beams and single purlin.

The north aisle's interior features stone benches, sill band and eaves with ballflowers. West and north windows have keeled shafts and hood moulds with mask stops. The east end has a window with filleted shafts, flanked by single brackets. To its right stands an early 14th-century cusped piscina with gable and bracket with ballflower. The south side shows remains of five wall shafts with mask corbels. A restored 18th-century roof is divided into two sections.

The chancel arch, moulded and rebated and dating to the 14th century, has keeled responds and is accompanied by a 19th-century crested traceried screen with central brass gates. The north side has, to the west, a 19th-century doorway with shafts and hood mould. To the east is a fragment of carved frieze and a 19th-century aumbry. The east end displays a large late 19th-century ashlar reredos with alabaster figures in 14th-century style and a stained glass window of 1892 by Heaton, Butler & Bayne. The south side contains, to the east, a chamfered 13th-century piscina. The roof is plain with chamfered span beams and purlins.

The south aisle's east end features a window with shafts and hood mould with mask stops, flanked to the right by a bracket. The south side has, to the east, an early 14th-century piscina with hood mould, finial and mask stops. A south window displays patterned stained glass dating to 1879. To the west is a chamfered south doorway with hood mould, a single shaft, and the remains of a piscina.

The chantry chapel at the west end has a moulded sill band and ornate foliate and ballflower friezes. The south side features an ogee-headed moulded tomb recess and two windows with keeled shafts, hood moulds and mask stops. The west end has a central segmental pointed doorway with round shafts, hood mould and mask stops. The roof is plain.

The church's furnishings include fifteen 16th-century benches with shaped ends and poppyheads, three 17th-century plain benches, and late 19th-century stalls, benches, desks and pulpit. A single late 18th-century panelled pew is present. An 18th-century altar rail with vase and stem balusters has been re-set. Other fittings include a 17th-century square poor box on stem and a plain chest. A 13th-century octagonal font with cusped arcaded bowl survives.

The memorials are extensive and include a 13th-century cross slab, an incised slab of 1498 to William Derby and wife, and a tomb chest of circa 1500 with four shields in quatrefoils and the effigy of a knight. An outstanding marble monument of 1848 to Colonel Edward Cheney, designed by J. Gott, features a moulded chest with relief panel to front and military trophy panels at the ends. Above stand almost life-size figures of a dying horse and rider. Four 19th-century marble and slate tablets commemorate the Cheney family, and eight other marble and slate tablets are also present.