Church Of St Swithun

A parish church of notable architectural quality, combining medieval elements with substantial late 19th-century reconstruction. The building incorporates a relocated 13th-century north chapel and a late 15th-century tower. The remainder of the structure was rebuilt in 1888–9 by the architect J.L. Pearson, carried out at the expense of Mr C. Donaldson-Hudson M.P., and incorporates some 13th-century work within the arcades. The exterior is of possibly dressed red sandstone and red sandstone ashlar with plain tile roofs.

The church comprises a 4-bay nave and aisles with a south porch, a 2-bay chancel with south vestry and organ chamber, a 3-bay north chapel, and a west tower. The 1888–9 work adopts a free Early Decorated Gothic style.

The tower rises in three stages on a chamfered plinth with chamfered offsets adorned with stone carvings including a Staffordshire knot and a Talbot dog. Diagonal buttresses with chamfered offsets carry carvings of a dragon and lion at their bases to the north-east and south-east. Beneath a moulded parapet string with carvings and gargoyles sits a quatrefoil frieze. The parapet is chamfered and battlemented with crocketed corner pinnacles and a weathervane. The louvred belfry openings consist of two cinquefoil-headed lights with Y-tracery, double chamfered reveals, and hoodmoulds with carved stops. The second stage features small trefoil-headed rectangular windows. A large west window of four trefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery, chamfered reveals, and hoodmould with carved stops is flanked by canopied niches, that to the left containing a carved head in the wall beneath. The west doorway has a continuously moulded arch, a hoodmould with two carved heads, a square head, and a quatrefoil frieze above; a pair of 19th-century nail-studded boarded doors with strap hinges closes the entrance. A clock occupies the second stage to the south.

The nave and aisles feature a parapeted gable end to the east with a finial and trefoil-gabled kneelers, and lancet clerestory windows with hoodmoulds. Each aisle has a double-chamfered plinth, a string course, and a cill string with moulded cornice and parapet with chamfered coping. Angle buttresses with chamfered offsets and cinquefoil-gabled tops punctuate the walls. Windows throughout consist of four trefoil-headed lights with Geometrical tracery, moulded reveals, and continuous hoodmould. The western return of the south aisle contains a 2-light window, whilst the western return of the north aisle has a 4-light window. A south-east doorway features nook shafts, a moulded arch with one order of shafts, and a hoodmould with carved stops, closed by a pair of nail-studded boarded doors with strap hinges. A gabled timber-framed porch on a chamfered sandstone plinth rises at the south. Its moulded-arched entrance has carved spandrels, panelled sides, and a panelled gable with carved bargeboards. The porch sides are divided into 3+3 sections with chamfered ogee trefoiled lights and intersecting tracery. Within, the porch interior contains stone side benches and a 2-bay roof with moulded tie beams and two tiers of double-cusped wind braces. A square staircase tower at the east end of the north aisle has a moulded cornice, chamfered parapet, three small rectangular windows, and a nail-studded boarded door.

The chancel sits on a chamfered plinth with a string course and a cill string stepped down to buttresses at the east end. Gabled angle buttresses with chamfered offsets and a low central buttress to the east support the structure, which terminates in a parapeted gable end with a finial. The clerestory consists of stepped triple-chamfered lancets under a round arch, with the string course carried over as a hoodmould. The east end displays stepped triple-chamfered lancets, each with a hoodmould, and a small chamfered lancet in the apex of the gable. To the south, a vestry and organ chamber adjoin. The vestry has a chamfered plinth, angle buttresses, a moulded cill string, parapet string, and parapet with chamfered coping. A window off-centre to the left displays two cinquefoil-headed lights with Y-tracery, chamfered reveals, and a hoodmould with carved stops. A nail-studded boarded door to the far left has a continuously moulded arch with a string course carried over as a hoodmould. A pair of lancets appears in the right-hand return front. The tall organ chamber to the left is flanked by a pair of large gabled buttresses and contains a pair of low chamfered lancets and a hexafoiled rose window in the gable, with an integral lateral stack to the right.

The north chapel features angle buttresses with chamfered offsets and old parapeted gable ends with moulded copings and finials at their apices (a cross marks the east end). Triple-chamfered lancets punctuate the walls, and the east end displays five stepped chamfered lancets.

The interior is rich in 19th-century detailing and fittings. The 4-bay nave arcades consist of circular piers with moulded bases and carved foliage capitals, with double chamfered arches pointed to the north and round to the south. The clerestory has a cill string and chamfered rear arches. The roof features moulded tie beams, moulded arch-braced collars, a collar purlin, and trussed rafters. The aisles have a cill string carried over doors as hoodmoulds and chamfered rear arches. Lean-to aisle roofs have round-arched trusses with pierced spandrels and carved stone corbels. A pair of north doors, one leading to the stair turret, provides access. A moulded 15th-century tower arch with chamfered bases and capitals springs from the western end. The stair turret is entered by a boarded door.

The chancel arch is multi-shafted with moulded bases and carved foliage caps, featuring a chamfered arch with dogtooth ornament and a hoodmould likewise decorated. A 3-bay north arcade in the chancel comprises circular piers with shafts, moulded bases, and carved foliage caps, with moulded arches bearing dogtooth ornament. The clerestory alternates round rear arches with blind pointed arches; shafts have moulded bases and capitals, and a cill string runs throughout. The east end has a cill string with lancets featuring moulded rear arches, dogtooth ornament, and nook shafts with moulded bases and capitals. A piscina to the south-east displays a chamfered trefoiled arch with dogtooth ornament and a hoodmould with carved stops.

The 15th-century north chapel roof is notable for its moulded cambered tie beams on brackets set with quatrefoil panels and moulded ribs with carved heraldic bosses. The 19th-century archway to the north aisle comprises triple-shafted piers with moulded bases and capitals, and a moulded arch. The organ chamber contains a pair of chamfered transverse arches on half-round piers. The vestry is fitted with a small stone fireplace, a window seat, and a chamfered square ambry with boarded doors.

The fittings, some possibly by Pearson, include a panelled wooden altar, a stone reredos with marble top, a painted and carved wooden triptych, and a wooden screen with cinquefoil-headed lights. Brass altar rails and plain choir stalls furnish the chancel. A low sanctuary wall incorporates an integral polygonal stone pulpit with quatrefoil panels. A brass lectern stands nearby. A marble font dated 1889 has a hemispherical bowl, a central stem with clustered shafts, and a step with a carved inscription (largely illegible at the time of survey in March 1986). Two 18th-century coats of arms are present—one carved in wood and one painted on canvas. A former sanctus bell remains in the north chapel. A probably 17th-century parish chest with three locks survives. Two 18th-century paintings of Moses and Aaron hang beneath the tower. Medieval floor tiles set in a frame appear in the north aisle.

A carved foliated stone coffin lid of 13th or 14th-century date lies in the north aisle. Cranage's records note four 17th-century brasses formerly on the floor at the east end of the nave.

The stained glass includes early work by Kempe dating from 1892 to 1899. Drawings and photographs of the church before and after the 1888–9 restoration are displayed in the south aisle.

This church is notable not only for its medieval components but also for the quality and originality of its 19th-century work, representing a significant achievement in Victorian ecclesiastical restoration.