Former Church Of St Bartholomew

The Former Church of St Bartholomew, Benthall

This is a rare and well-preserved church of the Restoration period, rebuilt in 1667-68 following the destruction of its predecessor during the Civil War. The building comprises a nave, lower and narrower chancel, south vestry, west porch and stair turret, and west belfry. A vestry was added in 1884, and the porch and stair turret were added by R. Bateman in 1893.

The structure is constructed of whitened render for the nave and chancel, with the vestry built of grey siltstone, and the porch and turret of brick, all under tile roofs on plastered eaves. The nave features three segmental-headed windows in the north and south walls. The original round-headed south doorway is blocked and enclosed by a projecting narrow brick bay carrying above the eaves under a hipped roof. This bay includes a round-headed gallery window above a large square sundial and a small 17th-century lion's-head bee-bole, restored in 1893, alluding to the biblical aphorism in Judges Chapter 14, 'out of the strong, something sweet'. The timber-framed bellcote sits under a pyramid roof with weathervane and has simple louvered sound holes. The east window, dating to 1884, is a three-light window with uncusped Y-tracery. The vestry has a boarded door under a shouldered lintel and two pointed lights to a window on its left side. The porch is a lean-to against the west end with a stepped coped wall concealing its roof, which includes a blind bullseye above the door. The door, moved from the original south doorway, is studded and retains strap hinges. The turret beside the porch projects further forward and is apsidal under a dentil cornice and hipped roof, with a single west stair light.

Inside, the nave roof features two hammer-beam trusses on corbelled brackets and a single tie-beam truss, all plastered behind collar beams. A plastered round chancel arch sits below a timber beam. The chancel has a similar single hammer-beam truss and one tie-beam truss against the chancel arch. The walls are plastered except for the porch and stairs, which are white-painted brick. The nave and porch have 19th-century floor tiles, with some medieval tiles by the original south door and old grave slabs laid in the central aisle. The chancel floor contains medieval tiles and grave slabs with dates ranging from 1738 to 1767.

The church retains a wealth of 17th and 18th-century fittings of considerable interest. The west gallery, carried on a timber beam and dated 1667, has a panel front with two painted panels commemorating annuities left by Ann Brown (died 1767) and Serjeant Rode (died 1825). The pulpit and reading desk form a pair, presumably of 1667, and incorporate Jacobean panels. The 17th-century font has a broad round stem and narrow bowl. The panelled box pews and panelled dado are 18th-century work, as is the bowed communion rail with turned balusters. The box pews are a particularly notable survival. Hatchments are displayed in the north and south walls.

The church contains several wall monuments of interest. In the chancel south wall is a Baroque wall monument to Ralph Brown (died 1707), featuring a broken segmental pediment, achievement and flaming lamps. Also in the south wall is a simpler tablet to Francis Harries (died 1848) by A Boucneau of London. Neo-classical tablets in the nave commemorate Mary Hill (died 1793) by S. Paty of Bristol and William Colley (died 1775). The nave south wall includes war-memorial tablets for 1914-18 and 1939-45. The sundial was restored in 1961.

The church is no longer in regular use for worship and has group value with the adjacent Elizabethan Benthall Hall, together forming an enchanting manorial group.