Church Of St Michael And All Angels

The Church of St Michael and All Angels is a parish church with medieval origins, substantially rebuilt and restored in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The nave probably dates from the 13th century, the tower from the late 12th century and around 1300, and the south aisle (known as the Loton Chapel) from around 1320–30. The chancel was largely rebuilt in 1845–6, the west and south-west walls of the nave in 1846–7, and the whole church was restored by Mr Lloyd Oswell of Shrewsbury in 1902–3.

The church is built of squared and coursed red sandstone with red sandstone dressings. The tower is constructed of coursed Alberbury breccia with red sandstone dressings. The chancel and west wall of the nave are of snecked dressed red sandstone, and the south-west wall of the nave is of red sandstone ashlar. The roofs are covered with plain tiles. The building comprises a nave, four-bay chancel (in a lancet style), three-bay south aisle (Loton Chapel), tower positioned north of the nave, and vestry north of the chancel.

Tower

The tower has four stages. It features a chamfered plinth, two string courses to the first and second stages, clasping buttresses extending to the top of the second stage, and a central pilaster buttress on the north side rising to the bottom of the second stage. The north parapet has chamfered coping and a central gargoyle. The tower is topped by a saddleback roof with a weathervane and parapeted gables featuring miniature gabled lucarnes and gabled finials. The top stage has two-light openings in the gables with altered Y-tracery and chamfered reveals. The belfry openings have two trefoil-headed lights with Y-tracery and double-chamfered reveals. Chamfered lancets appear in the dormer stage, cinquefoil-headed to the second stage. An arched doorway on the east side has a 19th-century nail-studded boarded door with strap hinges. A clock is positioned below the belfry opening on the east side.

Nave

The nave has a chamfered and moulded plinth with buttresses featuring chamfered offsets. A diagonal flying buttress on the south-west has triple chamfered segmental ribs and two offsets. The west gable end is parapeted with shaped and gabled kneelers, miniature lucarnes, and a cross at the apex.

On the south side, a central 19th-century window has two trefoil-headed lights with a quatrefoiled circle in the tracery, chamfered reveals, and a hoodmould with curved foliage stops, dated "AD/1847". To the right, a 19th-century entrance has two orders of shafts with moulded bases and capitals, a moulded arch, a hoodmould with uncarved circular stops, and a 19th-century nail-studded boarded door with elaborate strap hinges.

The west end has buttresses flanking a 19th-century five-light window with intersecting tracery, a seven-part rose window in the apex, chamfered and moulded reveals, and a hoodmould. A 19th-century vesica-shaped window in the gable apex has flowing tracery.

The north side has four unevenly spaced bays. Two central 19th-century three-light windows have intersecting tracery and double-chamfered reveals. A 19th-century left-hand window has two trefoil-headed lights with a quatrefoiled circle in the tracery at the apex, double-chamfered reveals, and a hoodmould with carved stops. A blocked north door to the right has a moulded arch and broach stops but no capitals, with two probably reset carved heads flanking the arch at apex level in the wall above.

Loton Chapel

The Loton Chapel has a rainwater head dated "A.P/1836". It features a double cavetto-moulded plinth and buttresses with chamfered offset trefoil-panelled gablets with carved heads, and diagonal buttresses at the corners. The parapeted gable ends have trefoil-panelled gabled kneelers, miniature lucarnes, and crosses at the apexes.

A central three-light window has intersecting tracery and chamfered reveals. The right-hand window has three trefoil-headed lights (the centre one depressed) with radial Decorated tracery with much cusping, moulded reveals, and a hoodmould with carved stops. A moulded-arched doorway to the left has a hoodmould and carved stops, and a nail-studded boarded door.

A large blocked east window (blocked by 1789) has moulded reveals and a hoodmould with carved stops. A niche in the gable above has a cinquefoiled gabled head and hoodmould with carved stops. High up on the west side is a convex-sided triangular window with cusped tracery including a concave triangle, moulded reveals, a moulded ledge, and two brackets below to the left.

Chancel

The chancel has a moulded plinth, buttresses with chamfered offsets, angle buttresses to the east, chamfered eaves, and a parapeted gable end to the east with chamfered kneelers and a cross at the apex. Chamfered lancets appear throughout. The east end has a central buttress with a pair of flanking round-arched lancets and a circular window in the gable above with a keyed moulded surround.

Vestry

The vestry has a square plan with parapeted gables featuring chamfered coping and a stack on the front apex with a trefoil-gabled opening to each face. A cinquefoil-headed lancet on the north side has chamfered reveals. A short link to the chancel has a chamfered lancet to the east and a chamfered Caernarvon-arched boarded doorway to the west.

Interior

The three-bay Loton Chapel arcade has quatrefoil section piers with moulded bases and capitals, double chamfered arches, and hoodmoulds. The 14th-century chancel arch has a double chamfer dying into responds.

The nave roof has 2:1:5:1 bays from east to west with moulded arch-braced collars and v-struts, four moulded purlins on each side with cusped windbraces forming five tiers of quatrefoil panels. No windbraces appear in the two western bays, and there is a hammerbeam truss to the east.

The four-bay chancel roof is of double hammerbeam type with cusped v-struts and quatrefoil panels between purlins.

The four-bay roof of the Loton Chapel has chamfered arch-braced collars with moulded 'bosses' in the centre and two pairs of purlins with windbraces. Late 19th-century embellishments include a carved frieze with fleurons, tie-beams with carved brackets resting on angels with pendants.

The chancel has a double-chamfered arched vestry doorway, an aumbry with a chamfered Caernarvon arch, and chamfered window reveals. The north wall of the nave is set back to the tower with two stone corbels to support the roof. Image brackets appear in the north wall between the first and second windows from the west, to the right of the chancel arch, and to the left of the arcade.

The chapel retains the hoodmould of the blocked east window, a trefoiled ogee-headed arched piscina with bowl, and a cinquefoiled moulded-arched tomb recess with ballflower ornament.

Fittings

A late 19th-century wooden reredos stands against the east wall with two round arches flanking a taller pointed arch, triple shafts with moulded bases and capitals, dogtooth decoration, and a centre arch of two lights with Geometrical-style tracery. Walls and window reveals have painted patterns and inscriptions, with other chancel windows bearing painted inscriptions on their soffits.

The late 19th-century communion rails are trefoil-arched with circular columns. 19th-century choir stalls are present. An octagonal stone pulpit from 1883, presented by Lady Charlotte Lyster, has carved square panels depicting a lamb and flag, flowers, angels, a pelican, and other motifs, with a carved foliage trail frieze, moulded cornice, and square base.

An octagonal stone font from around 1883 has two steps to a moulded base, shafts, panels with trefoils in circles, and a quatrefoil frieze. Reused 17th-century panelling (possibly from former pews) appears in nave pews from 1871, wainscot panelling, and an organ screen at the west end. Gothic pews dated 1840, formerly in the Loton Chapel, were not evident at the time of survey in June 1985. A 17th-century chest is present. Late 19th-century panelling in the chapel features embossed brass (or similar) Leighton memorial plaques.

Stained Glass

Fragments of 14th-century stained glass survive in the south windows of the Loton Chapel. The chancel glass dates from 1853. A fine memorial window in the Loton Chapel commemorates Sir Balwin Leighton (died 1897), designed by Mrs Sotheby (who also designed the war memorial) in the style of The Studio. Three hatchments appear in the nave and four in the chancel.

Monuments

The church contains a large collection of mainly late 18th- and early 19th-century tablets. Especially fine are the monuments to Richard Lyster (died 1691) of Rowton, a baroque memorial with putti flanking the inscription (removed from old St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury, in 1788); to Dorothy Leighton (died 1688) of Wattlesborough with a swagged panel; to Sir Richard Lyster (died 1766) of Rowton, a rococo memorial by Van der Hagen with putti flanking an urn; and a tablet to Richard Lyster (died 1807) with a mourning female figure by a tomb. Two mid-19th-century brass plates are located in the chapel.

Historical Context

There has been a church on the site since at least 1020. It was originally collegiate but became parochial in the 13th century and was subject to Alberbury Priory (White Abbey). The church stands close to the remains of Alberbury Castle.