Putley Parish Church

The parish church, dating back to the 12th century, was extensively restored between 1875 and 1876 by Thomas Blashill. It is constructed of sandstone rubble, with tiled roofs to the nave and chancel, shingles to the bell turret, and stone slates to the south porch. The church comprises a two-bay nave, a bell turret inset into the west wall, a two-bay chancel, and a south porch. The west wall has a battered base and features a pointed 19th-century window with two trefoil-headed lights beneath a quatrefoil. A blocked north doorway has an elliptical head and traces of roll mouldings; a 14th-century window to the east of the door has a semi-circular head containing blind trefoils. A vestry, dating from around 1875, projects to the north, with a further trefoiled light on its north side. The east window, part of the 1870s restoration, has three trefoiled lights with three cinquefoils above. A restored trefoil-headed light with blind spandrels is found in the south chancel window. A possibly 14th-century blocked priest’s door has a two-centred head. The east window of the south side of the nave, dating from the 13th century, has a pointed head containing two trefoiled lights beneath a quatrefoil. A restored trefoiled window is located to the west of the 17th-century timber-framed porch, which was restored in the 20th century. A 13th or 14th-century south doorway has a two-centred head. The bell turret has a pyramidal roof, with a lucarne to each slope. Inside, the chancel has a 19th-century open wagon roof, while the nave likely has a 15th-century arch brace and collar roof. A 19th-century reredos is constructed in Venetian mosaics, and the altar table depicts the Entombment. A re-set piscina, probably 13th century, features a trefoiled head, an octofoil drain, and is supported on columnar detached shafts. The pulpit contains two sides of reused early 17th-century panelling with a deeply moulded frieze and gadrooning over Ionic pilasters, which continues as a screen beneath the chancel arch, originally forming the Putley Court Pew. Stained glass windows were created by Clayton & Bell, with the exception of the west window, which is by Heaton Butler and Baque. A plan in the vestry indicates the extent of the 1870s restoration, showing the seating layout, and highlights that the west and south walls of the nave remain medieval. A drawing inscribed with details of funding from the Incorporated Society and names of officials records the church’s re-opening on May 5th, 1876, and identifies Thomas Blashill ARIBA, of 10 Old Jewry Chambers, London EC, as the architect. The parish church has no known dedication.