Church Of St Edmund

Church of St Edmund

A parish church of substantial medieval date, substantially rebuilt and modified over several centuries. The building comprises a west tower, nave, chancel, organ chamber, south aisle, and south porch, constructed in dressed stone and coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, partly rendered. The roofs are a mixture of gabled and lean-to forms, clad in lead and pantile. The church was originally built in the 12th and 13th centuries, with significant additions and rebuilding in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Stanhope family undertook substantial work in the early 16th century. Further alterations occurred in the 17th century, and the building was restored in 1886 and 1925. The structure displays partial chamfered and moulded plinth, sill band, and chamfered eaves throughout.

The west tower dates to the 15th and early 16th centuries and is three stages high. It is decorated with three coved string courses, three gargoyles and spouts, and a crenellated parapet bearing the Stanhope Arms in a panel with hood mould, a cusped ogee cutout, and four crocketed pinnacles. Two diagonal buttresses to the west have three setoffs. The first stage adjoins a 20th-century boiler house. Above it is a late 15th-century triple lancet window with ogee and round heads, panel tracery and hood mould. The third stage contains four louvred double lancets with four-centred arched reveals and hood moulds.

The north side of the nave has three bays and was rebuilt in the early 16th century. It features four buttresses with two setoffs, a sill band, and a crenellated parapet. On the west side is a 13th-century moulded doorway with hood mould, flanked to the east by two and to the west by a single 16th-century triple lancet with trefoil heads, elliptical-headed reveals and hood moulds. The clerestory has three similar double lancets on each side. The organ chamber, constructed to the north in the late 19th century, is of a single bay in 13th-century style, with two clasping buttresses to the north, a single lancet with hood mould, and a coped gable with kneelers.

The chancel, dating to the early 14th century, comprises two bays with a single buttress to the north. Its east end displays a stepped sill band and a 14th-century triple lancet with intersecting tracery, hood mould with mask crest and single stop. The south side features a central priest's door with a coved four-centred arched head and a studded 17th-century door. Flanking this are single 17th-century double lancets with cusped round heads and hood moulds, positioned at different levels.

The south aisle, also of 14th-century date, comprises three unequal bays with a diagonal buttress to the west and two buttresses to the south, with two setoffs and coped gables. Its east end contains a 15th-century triple lancet with trefoil heads, Tudor-arched reveal and hood mould. The south side features, to the east, a 15th-century triple lancet with cusped ogee heads, square-headed reveal and hood mould. To the west and at the west end are similar double lancets, that to the south heavily restored.

The south porch dates to the 19th century and was converted to a vestry in the 20th century. Its south gable displays brick infill with two casements, and above is an arched tie beam and gable with bargeboards. The inner south doorway is 12th-century, round-headed, chamfered and rebated, with hood mould.

The interior contains a 13th-century nave south arcade of four bays with three round piers featuring chamfered octagonal bases and ringed cove-moulded capitals, with two matching responds. The arches are double chamfered and rebated. The north side has 19th-century panelled dado. A 19th-century principal rafter roof with arched tie beams and curved brackets covers the nave. The chancel arch, of 13th-century date, is double chamfered and rebated with faceted conical imposts and a 20th-century timber screen. The south aisle has remains of a coved round bracket to the east and a lean-to roof with cusped brackets dating to 1886. A second chancel arch of approximately 1300 is chamfered and rebated at the arris, with a 20th-century Perpendicular-style screen.

The chancel north side features, to the west, a late 19th-century organ case in 16th-century style with stencilled decoration and text. To the east is a squint converted to an aumbry in the 20th century. The east end contains a 20th-century gradine and tabernacle. The south side has, to the east, a restored 13th-century piscina with partial stem and trefoil head, above which is a re-set mask. A seat occupies a window recess to the right. The chancel ceiling is 19th-century, panelled and wagon-vaulted.

The church retains significant fittings of various dates. These include a chip-carved octagonal panelled pulpit of the 17th century; a round tub font on a round stem with water-holding base, dating to the 14th century; eight oak benches of the 16th century with bolection moulding and dentillation, supplemented by 20th-century copies; a 17th-century armchair with carved panelled back; and an 18th-century parish chest. 19th-century stalls, desks and lectern are also present.

The monuments include a 14th-century effigy to Lady Elizabeth Stanhope, which was re-sited from Haughton. A classical wall war memorial dates to 1918. 19th and 20th-century brasses are also recorded.