Parish Church Of St Luke

Parish Church of St Luke

This is a parish church of 12th-century origin, substantially rebuilt and extended during the medieval period and restored in the 19th century. The church is constructed of dressed local sandstone in regular courses with slate roofs.

The building comprises an aisled nave with a west tower, south porch, a lower and narrower chancel, with a north-east vestry and south-east chapel. The church is principally in Perpendicular style, with earlier Decorated elements in the north aisle and 12th-century fabric also present in that location.

The three-stage west tower has diagonal buttresses and an embattled parapet with corner pinnacles. Its west window of three lights has a triangular head. In the second stage is a blocked south window, probably of the 14th century, where the label with head stops has survived and a clock has been inserted. The belfry stage contains two-light openings fitted with louvres. The tower arch to the nave has double ovolo-moulded arches matching those of the nave arcades.

The south aisle comprises six bays. A 20th-century porch occupies the first bay, followed by three windows of three lights, and two lower 19th-century projecting bays each with three-light windows. The north aisle is in the Decorated style with three windows of three lights (the two eastern bays added in 1878-82) and three bays set back at the west end with two-light windows and a triangular window over a north doorway. The aisle has an embattled parapet with pinnacles.

The nave clerestory contains two-light windows, blocked in the westernmost bay. The chancel has a three-light geometrical east window with sill band and hood mould. The lean-to vestry has an embattled parapet and two-light windows on its north and east sides. The two-bay south chapel has a plain parapet and two-light Perpendicular windows.

Interior

The 14th-century nave arcades have octagonal piers with double ovolo-moulded arches; the two eastern bays were rebuilt in 1878-82. The double-chamfered chancel arch is of 19th-century date, with its inner order carried on corbels. The nave roof comprises king-post trusses on corbelled brackets with subsidiary trusses without brackets. The aisles have either plastered or beamed ceilings. The two-bay chancel roof has an arched-brace truss on foliage corbels, above which a skylight window has been inserted. Nave walls are plastered whilst other walls expose the stonework. Stone paving and wood floors are of late 20th-century date, with 19th-century red and black tiles in the tower base.

The octagonal font is lead-lined and possibly medieval, though it has been re-tooled in the 19th century and fitted with a later stem. The north-aisle vestry screen incorporates some 17th-century panels. Other furnishings are of 19th or 20th-century date, including a polygonal pulpit with blind Gothic panels. The reredos comprises linenfold panels surmounted by early 19th-century pointed brass Commandment plaques. An organ gallery dated 1950 is present. The seating comprises late 20th-century choir stalls of 1983 and benches of 1987, the latter engraved with donors' names.

The church contains several wall tablets of 17th to 19th-century date. A notable wall monument to Mary Warynge (died 1613) features Tuscan columns, entablature and heraldic achievement. The east window depicts Christ in Glory, dating to around 1895. Two war-memorial windows in the south aisle include one showing infantrymen receiving Holy Communion.

History and Development

The church originates in the 12th century, evidenced by early fabric in the north aisle. Substantial enlargement took place in the 14th century with the addition of the nave arcades and tower. The tower and south aisle were further altered in the mid-15th century.

A significant restoration and extension of the east end occurred between 1878 and 1882, carried out by Nicholas Joyce, an architect practising in Stafford from 1857 to 1899. Joyce lengthened the nave and aisles by two bays, constructed a new chancel, and added a north vestry. The 20th century saw further major additions: a war-memorial chapel was built in 1949 (dated on the rainwater head), and a porch was constructed in 1957, replacing an earlier classical structure.

Setting

The churchyard contains a stump and base of a medieval churchyard cross (recorded as LBS no 271278) on the south side of the church. Iron railings and gates on the south side of the churchyard (LBS no 271279) are separately listed.