Church Of St. Swithin

Church of St. Swithin

This is a parish church of 11th, 12th and 13th-century date, substantially altered in 1758 and restored in 1892 by W. Scorer. It is built of red brick with ashlar dressings and coursed limestone rubble, with lead and slate roofs. The building comprises a western tower and porch, nave, aisles, chancel and vestry.

The stone church was completely brick clad and refenestrated in 1758. The two-stage brick tower has a plinth, cill band, dentillated band and corbelled band, with a battlemented parapet featuring a dog tooth cornice. Corner buttresses are present, and at the base of the south-western buttress the stone foundations of the earlier church are visible. The south side displays a three-light pointed window, and the belfry stage on all faces has two-light openings with wooden tracery and louvres. On the western side is a gabled porch with a battlemented parapet and corner panelled buttresses surmounted by decorated ashlar obelisks with foliate crockets. Above the porch, the corbelled band is formed into a pediment with a plain eared ashlar panel beneath. The porch has side lights. The inner doorway is of late 12th-century date, set in coursed limestone rubble walling with zigzag decoration to the square-cut arch. A single order of colonettes is missing, but of the remaining capitals, one is waterleaf and the other bears worn figure carving. The door itself is 18th-century with six panels. On the north side of the tower is a blank pointed-headed opening.

The aisles have a plinth, cill band and moulded ashlar cornice. At both ends are blank pointed-headed openings with blank quatrefoils above. The north side has three three-light windows subdivided by plain buttresses. The nave has a dentillated cornice and lead roof, with a lozenge-shaped opening with curved sides at the east end. The chancel has a hipped slate roof, two three-light windows to the north side and a blocked pointed opening to the east end. The south side of the church matches the north, with the addition of a 19th-century vestry featuring a three-light east window and south door. All windows have matching intersecting cusped tracery dating from the 19th-century restoration.

Interior

The rear of the west doorway is a plain semi-circular-headed opening, as is the opening from tower to nave. On the nave side of the doorway a stripwork surround has been hacked back, suggesting an 11th-century date. Inside the tower are massive framed trusses, possibly built to support the bell chamber. The wide 13th-century three-bay arcades have octagonal piers and capitals with double-chamfered arches. The 13th-century chancel arch has been replaced by a three-bay 18th-century screen with octagonal posts and ogee arches with feathered gilt decoration and finials. Behind can be seen the 13th-century respond and detached annular shaft of blocked arches into vanished chancel chapels. The chancel has a coved ceiling with a pretty pierced quatrefoil frieze. On the south wall is a 19th-century door to the vestry. Above the chancel screen is a wall painting including the Royal Coat of Arms and some texts. The nave has panelled walls to dado height. Between nave and chancel is a low timber screen which extends to form an 18th-century pulpit with brattished top. The fine tester is now hung at the west end of the north aisle, featuring an ogee top with finials. The 19th-century choir stalls and octagonal moulded font match the 18th-century Gothick fittings. In the nave are four hatchments to the Lievesey and Clinton families, and a Commandment Board.

Monuments

At the west end of the south aisle is a large ledger slab with Lombardic inscription to John Eland and his two wives, died 1473. On the south wall is a tablet to the Barber and Rowlands families, died 1776–1797.