Church of St. Margaret of Antioch

Church of St. Margaret of Antioch

A Grade I listed parish church on the west side of Gainsborough Road, Marton. The building spans from the mid 11th century through to the 20th century, with major phases of development in the late 12th, early 13th, 15th, 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed from limestone herringbone rubble, limestone coursed rubble, limestone ashlar, some ironstone and red brick, with slate roofs featuring decorative ridge tiles and battlemented east gables.

The church comprises a west tower, nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, and a rectangular chancel with a small northern recess.

The 11th-century tower contains herringbone masonry throughout with long-and-short work on the corners. The west front displays a blocked large pointed opening with a 20th-century round-headed light inserted, a small 11th-century round-headed light with hood mould above, and a weathered face on a plaque and string course. Bell openings occupy all four sides, each with paired round-headed openings divided by a mid-wall shaft bearing capitals with crude volutes and chamfered impost blocks.

An Anglo Saxon nave roof line is visible beneath the eastern bell opening, with a blocked doorway with flat head below. Moulded 15th-century eaves project with corner gargoyles and single gargoyles at the centre of each face, and are topped with battlements. Between the tower and north aisle, part of the 11th-century nave is visible with long-and-short work. There is a clean masonry break with the 15th-century north aisle, which has a rectangular west window with two cusped ogee-headed lights and rectangular hood mould, battlements and ornate pinnacles.

The north side of the nave aisle contains a pointed ironstone window restored in the 20th century, with three cusped pointed lights with vertical tracery, hood mould and label stops. Two similar limestone windows follow but remain unrestored, with a blocked lancet between the two eastern windows. The rectangular east window of the north aisle has two pointed cusped lights with rectangular hood mould.

The north side of the chancel reveals the outline of a 12th-century arcade arch. There is a small rectangular 15th-century single-light window with shallow triangular head and rectangular hood mould. The east end of the chancel has a flattened triangular head with three lights of flattened triangular heads, vertical mullions extending into tracery with a large cusped oculus above. The lower part of the south side of the chancel wall to the west shows 11th-century herringbone. Two 15th-century rectangular windows each have three lights with shallow pointed heads and rectangular hood moulds. A small 12th-century lancet to the west is surmounted by a 15th-century rectangular window with two round-headed lights. Some herringbone continues in the east end of the south aisle, with a low 20th-century angle buttress.

The south side of the nave aisle has two large pointed 15th-century windows, each with three pointed cusped lights with vertical tracery and hood moulds, separated by a narrow single-stage buttress with chamfered plinth. A 15th-century porch with moulded plinth, eaves and battlements stands on the south side, featuring a shallow gable with a single ornate pinnacle remaining in the west corner. The pointed south doorway has a deeply moulded surround and hood mould. The porch interior is flanked by stone benches, and the south doorway has a pointed head, moulded doorway frame and plank door.

The west end of the south aisle displays fragments of an Anglo Saxon cross with interlace and cable decoration re-set in the wall. A rectangular window above has two lights with cusped ogee heads and rectangular hood mould. At the corner of the 11th-century nave with long-and-short work lies the junction with the aisle.

Internally, an early 12th-century tower arch is not bonded into the tower, having a round head, small chamfered imposts and plain jambs. A north arcade of circa 1175 comprises two bays with round chamfered heads, round pier and semi-circular responds; the central pier has a bold foliated volute capital and the eastern capital features large flat leaves and volutes, all with water-holding bases. An early 13th-century south arcade of two bays has pointed double chamfered heads, an octagonal central pier and keeled responds with plain capitals, hood moulds and a head in the spandrel.

An early 12th-century round chancel arch features a large round roll-moulded outer order and two inner rectangular orders, large chamfered imposts, cushion capitals with spoon-like decorations and a single shaft on each side. A 13th-century arch to the north chancel recess has a double chamfered steeply pointed arch, semi-circular responds and plain capitals. A niche in the south wall of the chancel has a pointed chamfered surround and polygonal pedestal. An 11th-century cross head is embedded in the north wall.

The furnishings comprise 19th and 20th-century altar rail, pews, pulpit, lectern and an octagonal ashlar font.