Church Of St Michael The Archangel And Attached Wall And Railings

Church of St Michael the Archangel and Attached Wall and Railings

This is a parish church of medieval origin, substantially built in the 12th to 16th centuries, with significant 19th-century additions and restoration work carried out between 1884 and 1889. The building is constructed in dressed coursed rubble and ashlar with a slate roof covering the nave and chancel; the south aisle and chapel have lead roofs. Coped gables mark the east ends of the nave and chancel, each topped with a single decorative ridge cross. A single rendered red brick stack rises from the east side of the tower.

The church comprises a tower, nave, north porch, south aisle, south chapel and chancel. The 13th-century tower stands on a chamfered plinth of two stages, the lower projecting slightly. It is topped with a pyramidal roof and a single weathervane, with single gargoyles at each angle and a 19th-century crocketed pinnacle. The west wall contains a chamfered pointed arched 13th-century doorway with imposts, hood mould and human head label stops; the door itself dates to the 17th century. Above this is a single chamfered arched 16th-century window. The bell chamber openings to the north, south and east sides each contain a single pair of 13th-century pointed arched lights. The west side is now blocked and displays a single clock face.

The north nave sits on a shallow plinth and features a single 13th-century lancet. To its left is a gabled 19th-century porch built on a chamfered plinth with a moulded arched entrance, hood mould and label stops. The inner doorway is a 13th-century pointed chamfered arched opening with imposts and hood mould. To the left of the porch are a single restored 14th-century two-light window with cusped tracery and a single restored 14th-century three-light window with cusped tracery.

The north chancel is set on a shallow plinth and features a single rectangular recessed blind panel. To its left are two 14th-century two-light windows under flat arches with cusped lights, tracery, hood moulds and human head label stops. The angle-buttressed east end sits on a shallow plinth and contains a single 15th-century window with two arched and cusped lights, hood mould, human head label stops and flat arch. Below this window are two early 19th-century slate headstones. Projecting from the buttresses is a low ashlar wall surmounted by decorative iron railings with a gate on the north side, extending for 4 metres and forming a rectangle.

The south chancel is built on a chamfered plinth and has a restored 14th-century two-light window with cusped lights, tracery, hood mould, human head label stops and flat arch. To its left is a 12th-century pointed arched doorway decorated with chevron and zigzag.

The south aisle and 19th-century chapel are set on a shallow chamfered plinth. The east wall of the chapel contains a single 14th-century two-light window with cusped lights, tracery, hood mould, human head label stops and flat arch. The south wall features a pointed chamfered arched doorway. The south aisle has three 19th-century two-light windows with cusped lights, tracery, hood moulds, label stops and flat arches. The west wall contains a single 19th-century arched two-light window with cusped tracery, hood mould and label stops. A low brick and slate lean-to projects from this wall.

Interior

The nave contains a 13th-century three-bay arcade with quatrefoil piers and responds, moulded capitals and double chamfered arches. The 13th-century tower arch features triple chamfering with moulded capitals, the inner capital on each side decorated with a single human head carving and three attached octagonal columns on either side.

The 12th-century chancel arch is supported by two columns either side, carrying four orders of roll moulding with the inner three supported on a single capital. The capitals are scalloped and further decorated with bead, zigzag and lozenge motifs. Chamfered arches separate the chancel from the south chapel and the aisle from the south chapel.

In the chancel stands a 14th-century piscina supported on a human head corbel. A circular ashlar font is supported on four colonnettes, with the bowl decorated with diaper around the top. The furnishings include a decoratively carved 19th-century pulpit and lectern, a table in the south aisle with a decoratively carved 17th-century back, and an altar table part-constructed with a decoratively carved 17th-century base and legs. There are also three 17th-century style carved chairs.

The north nave contains a prayer board and a further board with a quotation from Exodus Chapter XX. In the tower is a board detailing benefactions to Halam parish.

Stained glass includes four 14th-century panels in the north-west chancel window depicting St Christopher, St Blaise, Eve naked and spinning, and Adam naked and delving. The west window of the south aisle and the single windows either side of the porch are by Morris & Company, dating to 1919.

A monument to Thomas Wright, dated 1845, has the inscription set into a moulded arch flanked by single pilasters each decorated with blind trefoil arched panels and topped with decorative crocketed pinnacles. Above the inscription arch is a crocketed ogee arch topped with a single finial, and below is a traceried blind panel with a single central shield.