Church Of St Thomas

The Church of St Thomas is a former parish church, dating from the 14th to 16th centuries, with a tower built in 1845. It was originally associated with Willesley Hall and is now redundant.

The church is constructed of roughcast walls with freestone buttresses and parapets, and a brick plinth to the tower, all under a galvanised steel roof. The plan comprises a nave and chancel under a single roof, with a west tower.

The exterior features buttressed nave and chancel walls, including diagonal east buttresses. The east window has reticulated tracery in three lights. On the south side, the nave has two high-set, square-headed windows, and the chancel has two blocked pointed windows. A panel door is set within the south-west doorway. A blocked 14th-century doorway remains on the north side, retaining its original arch and hood mould, alongside two 2-light square-headed nave windows, one close to the eaves, and two 2-light chancel windows. The three-stage tower has diagonal buttresses, an embattled parapet, corner pinnacles, a 2-light Decorated west window, small square-headed middle-stage windows, and pointed belfry openings with louvres.

The interior has a chamfered 2-centred tower arch, with no separating chancel arch. The walls are plastered, and the floor is stone-paved, with encaustic chancel tiles. A shallow-arched plaster ceiling was installed in the late 20th century.

Original fixtures include a 19th-century Perpendicular-style font covered by a crocketed ogee-domed cover. Pointed boards displaying the Commandments and Lord’s Prayer are on the west wall. A black and white marble chest tomb is dedicated to Lt Gen Sir Charles Hastings (died 1823), incorporating shields within quatrefoils. Two 19th-century memorial tablets are also present. Fragments of medieval and later stained glass are set within the east and south windows. Items previously noted by Pevsner in 1984, including 16th-century incised slabs and an early 18th-century communion rail, are no longer in the church.

The church’s history reflects its association with Willesley Hall. The tower and battlemented parapet were added in 1845. New seating, pulpit and reading desk were installed in 1883 but subsequently removed. Following a period of disrepair, the church was re-roofed in 1989 after being declared redundant in the 20th century. The church possesses a typically early Gothic Revival character, despite its relatively late date.

Reasons for designation at Grade II include its status as a small church from the 14th to 16th centuries with a mid-19th-century tower and general remodelling in a Gothic Revival style, reflecting the character of an estate church. The retention of some 19th-century interior fixtures and fittings, including the font, text boards and tomb, and fragments of medieval glass also contribute to its significance.