Church Of St Milburga

Church of St Milburga, Stoke St Milborough

A church of 13th and 15th-century date with late 17th-century alterations, restored in 1859 and 1911. Built of coursed stone rubble with stone rubble and ashlar dressings, featuring plain-tile roofs with ashlar coping to the chancel.

The church comprises a chancel, nave with south porch, and west tower.

The chancel is lit by a 19th-century Decorated 3-light east window with foil tracery, and an early 15th-century north window of 3 cusped lancets. A Decorated south window of 2 cusped lancets with quatrefoil over is accompanied by a 17th-century cross-boarded door to its right, which has a reset flat stone lintel with diagonal dressing. A rugged lateral buttress stands at the south-east corner.

The nave's north wall contains 3 mid-19th-century arched 2-light windows with quatrefoil vesica. Buttresses with offsets and low flat buttresses occupy the corners. A restored square-headed window with leaded lights lights the east. The south wall holds a simple 13th-century lancet to the west, 2 early 14th-century windows of twin cusped lancets with lozenge over, and a 17th-century south doorway with segmental arch on plain abacus. Three buttresses with setbacks are present, along with one blocked high-level window to the east.

The tower's lower stages date to the 13th century and feature a splayed plinth below a roll-moulded string course. The first and second stages contain lancets to south and west. The upper level of the second stage has twin lancets on 3 sides and is capped by a corbelled course marking the former roof position. The upper stage is a 15th-century bell-chamber with twin cusped lancets on each side. The top is 17th-century rebuilt work, including a string course, castellated parapet, and pyramid roof.

The south porch is a 17th-century tiled gabled structure with a single tenoned-purlin roof. It comprises 2 cruck-framed trusses with collars; the outer truss has chamfered members and struts above, whilst the inner truss has chamfered crucks only. The rafters and straight wind braces are restored. The porch features close-studded timber-frame with herringbone brick infill panels on a stone rubble plinth.

Interior features include a chancel roof with 2 bays, 4 chamfered trenched purlins, and one chamfered arch-braced collar truss with raking struts. A moulded north wall plate is reputed to be a former rood-loft bressumer. A restored piscina incorporates a reset 14th-century carved stone. The east window glass is by Evans and Son of Shrewsbury. Seventeenth-century panelling surrounds the altar.

The chancel arch is early 13th-century, of 2 orders with simple cavetto-moulded abacus, capitals of broad flat-leafed decoration (much restored), and chamfered shafts.

The nave has a 5-bay chamfered double trenched-purlin roof with diagonally-set ridge. Chamfered straight wind braces occur at both purlins, with inverted additional bracing at the lower purlin. Six trusses comprise 4 arch-braced collar trusses with raking struts; at each end are 2 twin vertical-strut and collar trusses, the western example infilled with later struts. One collar is dated 1707 between inscribed initials.

The tower arch is triple-chamfered Early English with moulded capitals. A 12th-century font with fluted bowl is set on a 20th-century stepped plinth. Vestiges of painted medieval wall plaster remain above the chancel arch.

Wall monuments in the chancel include: a Latin tablet to Elizabeth Adams and Lucy (died 1667) with 2 coats of arms and festoon between, round arched pediment surmounted with coats of arms, side pilasters, and putti on brackets; a simple Latin inscribed tablet to George Lee (died 1673) surmounted with an ornate coat of arms; a large tablet to Edward Botterel (died 1782) with cornice surmounted with globe finial and coat of arms below; and a plain framed painted timber tablet to Thomas Wall (died 1772) with marbled painted timber backing surmounted with coat of arms.