Church of St Bartholomew

Church of St Bartholomew

Parish church with 12th-century origins, substantially rebuilt in the late 13th and 14th centuries, with further major work in the 17th century. The building is constructed of finely coursed sandstone rubble with stone slate and slate roofs. It comprises a three-bay nave and two-bay chancel in one, with a timber-framed bell turret set in the west gable and a south porch.

The bell turret, possibly dating from the early 16th century, is timber-framed with close-studding and two rails, topped by a slate-clad broach spire. The west window is a two-light cinquefoiled window of late 19th-century date. The north-west window of the nave is of similar design but probably dates to the 14th century. The next window to the west is 13th-century with three stepped lights. Two trefoiled windows on the north side of the chancel, dating to around 1300, have two lights each; the western one is restored. The east window is similar to the three-light window in the north wall of the nave. Two matching two-light trefoiled windows appear in the south wall of the chancel. The south-east window of the nave matches the three-light window opposite. East of the south porch is one small 12th-century round-headed window. The south porch itself has an 18th-century wicket gate and a gabled stone slate roof with each side supported by twelve 17th-century balusters. The entrance is under a two-centred moulded 14th-century arch, with a contemporary ledged door featuring ornate strap hinges and three vertical fillets.

Interior

The interior is predominantly 17th-century in character. The roof is supported on seven pairs of chamfered posts extending to wall-plate level, with consoles on each post carrying struts that support tie beams with pendants. Above the tie beams are collars supported by queen struts and angle struts. Between the last and penultimate pair of posts, in the position of the liturgical chancel, are two 14th-century (?) trusses without posts, comprising foiled principal rafters and V-struts above arch-braced collars rising from the wall plates. The chancel is defined by a 17th-century screen enriched with two terms beneath a central pediment and a plank-and-muntin-derived dado supporting balusters. Within the chancel are two inward-facing benches incised "RK 1636", 17th-century altar rails with turned balusters, a 13th-century piscina with two-centred head, two basins and a shelf, and a late 19th-century heating stove inscribed "FLAT TOP / ROMEESSE".

In the nave, the pulpit is probably 18th-century, five-sided with a plain moulded rail and bulbous pedestal with three feet. West of the pulpit in the north wall are two plain arched tomb recesses. On the south side west of the screen is a large niche, possibly the remains of access to a rood loft. Oak panelling, probably 17th-century, runs along both sides of the nave. The font has a fluted circular basin, probably 12th-century, supported on a 19th-century base. At the west end of the nave are two parclose screens with balusters, possibly 17th-century, dividing off the north-west and south-west corners, with a 17th-century heavy open timber-framed belfry support in the centre, featuring a large central pendant and angle struts to the bottom storey.

Monuments include a tapering marble wall plaque on the south side of the east wall in the style of Canova containing a head, commemorating Sir Edward Boughton who died in 1794 of Poston Court; and a simple stone plaque supported on a bracket on the west side of the south door, commemorating Matthew Seaborne who died in 1798.

The church is graded I on account of its unusual interior with posts supporting roof trusses.