Church Of St Swithin

Church of St Swithin

Church. The nave and aisles were built in 1869-71, the chancel in 1879, and the tower and spire in 1884-87. The church was designed by James Fowler of Louth and is described by Pevsner as "without doubt his most important church". It was paid for largely by the Shuttleworth family. The building is constructed in rockfaced ashlar with ashlar dressings and slate roofs, designed in Early English style.

The plan comprises a west tower with spire, nave with clerestory, north and south aisles, north and south porches, chancel, and vestry.

Exterior features include a deep moulded plinth, string courses, sill band, billeted eaves, and coped gables with crosses.

The west tower has three stages with gabled angle buttresses and a stair turret to the south-east. An inscribed eaves band with gargoyles is surmounted by four spire-topped octagonal pinnacles and flying buttresses supporting a set back octagonal spire with a single tier of lucarnes. The west door has clustered shafts beneath a crocketed gable, above which is a 3-light window with hoodmould. The second stage features blind arcading with crocketed gables, while the third stage has on each side a pair of moulded 2-light openings with shafts and crocketed gables.

The clerestory displays 18 lancets on each side, those to the south set in blind arcading with shafts.

The north aisle, comprising 6 bays, has buttresses and five 3-light windows with Geometrical tracery and hoodmoulds, with a similar window in the west end. The north porch has a moulded doorway with shafts and hoodmould beneath a coped gable.

The south aisle is similar but features a coped parapet and an additional window at the east end. The buttressed south porch, which is larger, has a doorway with double shafts and hoodmould, above which is a blind arcade with figure panels. On either side are 2-light windows with Y-tracery.

The chancel comprises 2 bays with buttresses, pierced balustrade, and crocketed east gable. The east end has a sill band, a 5-light window with hoodmould, and above it a recess with a demi-figure. Flanking buttresses are topped with blind-arcaded spires. The south side has two 3-light windows.

The vestry has a gabled porch and two 2-light windows with Y-tracery. The north gable has an external stack and two lancets.

Interior features include a double chamfered tower arch with double ringed shafts and hoodmould. The tower chamber contains blind arcading and a west window by A L Moore & Co.

The nave has 6 bay arcades with round and octagonal piers and octagonal responds, with double chamfered arches and hoodmoulds. The clerestory has sill band and linked hoodmoulds. An arch braced double purlin roof with curved wind braces and round wall shafts on corbels spans the nave.

The aisles have sill bands, glazed wooden porches, and lean-to roofs with arch braces. The north aisle east end features a double chamfered arch with panelled screen and organ pipes. The south aisle east end has a painted triptych and brass dated 1913, and a stained glass window from 1888.

The chancel has a roll moulded arch with double ringed shafts, a screen wall with quatrefoil band and wrought-iron railing, and a continuous sill band. The north side contains a stilted arched recess with organ case and a Perpendicular style screen. The east end has a panelled dado in the same style and a wooden reredos with figures in niches, with a stained glass window from 1879. The south side has a piscina and sedilia with crocketed gables, and two stained glass windows from circa 1880. An arch braced wooden barrel vault with painted decoration covers the chancel.

Fittings include a traceried oak pulpit and panelled octagonal font, both on bases with clustered shafts, stalls and desks, all 19th century. There is a freestanding wooden screen with inscription, semicircular pediment and keystone from the 20th century. A Roman stone altar, discovered on the site, remains on display.