Church of St Mary the Virgin

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Walgrave on Sowe

This is a parish church with a chancel dating from around 1300 and various late medieval phases, built on an earlier site. It was restored by G.E. Street in 1865, and church rooms of no special interest were added in 1981.

The older parts of the fabric are built in local red sandstone, whilst the late medieval additions use grey sandstone or a mixture of both types. The south porch and later restoration work favour red sandstone. The 1980s extension is in dark red brick. All roofs are tiled except the south nave aisle, which is lead-covered.

The building comprises a nave with two aisles: the south aisle is narrow and the same length as the nave, opening off a three-bay arcade; the north aisle is broad and extends eastward beyond the nave alongside the chancel. A long three-bay chancel opens from the nave. A centrally placed tower stands at the west end. The 1980s church rooms attach to the south side of the west tower, wrap around the south-west corner of the south aisle, and link up with the south porch.

The church sits slightly above adjacent street level. Though not especially large, each part of the building is independently roofed with high-pitched gables (except the south aisle), giving the impression of additive development over time. The 15th-century tower has angled buttresses and a north-east stair turret, with an embattled parapet and pinnacles. It features a small hollow-chamfered blocked west doorway and a three-light Perpendicular window above. The belfry has two-light traceried windows with carved terminals to the hood mould. The north face bears a clock face dated 1985. The tower is less prominent than it must have been in the Middle Ages, largely because the tall, steeply pitched nave and south aisle roofs were replaced and apparently heightened during the 19th-century restoration.

The chancel projects only one bay beyond the end of the large north aisle, which dominates the exterior massing from the north. This aisle has deep stone buttresses and a much later small stone vestry squeezed between the penultimate bay to the west. The vestry has a south gable set in the lean-to roof containing a two-light window, Decorated in design and apparently mostly medieval.

South of the tower stands the substantial 1980s extension, regarded as not of special interest. This low-lying brick building has a deep tiled roof and is substantial in plan, with a conical roof over the large church room at its south-west corner. The main entrance to the church is through the east side of this building, which has a glazed frontage adjacent to the south aisle porch. The south aisle is modest in size and scale compared with the rest of the building, with a square-headed late medieval window at its east end and a shallow sloping slate roof. The chancel has two cuspless Y-tracery windows and a priest's door on its south elevation, with one still visible on the north side, and a large three-light intersecting cusped window to the east dating from around 1300, with restored masonry.

The interior is unified by a recent redecoration scheme of paint over plaster. The chancel has an arch-braced roof with a collar purlin. A doorway matching the south one exists but now opens into the eastern end of the large north aisle; adjacent is a tall two-centred arched opening with continuous chamfered jambs providing access into the north aisle. A trefoil-headed piscina on the south wall indicates the position of a former altar which has now been removed. Recent reordering has brought the altar forward into the middle of the chancel with minimal additional furnishings. The chancel arch comprises a series of mouldings which die into the wall a few feet east of where the building joins the nave. The intermediary space was once occupied by a rood screen and loft, as indicated by the surviving stair accessed from the south aisle and an opening at upper level.

The nave has two aisles: the north with two differently proportioned arches, and the south with three regularly sized ones. Above these, a clerestory of small round cusped windows lights the nave, likely part of a heightening during Street's restoration and re-roofing. The north aisle has an arch-braced roof with window braces, plastered behind.

The west wall of the south aisle has been opened up to provide direct access into the main lobby of the church rooms extension. An organ gallery dating from around 1980 sits in the tower arch. The church is completely carpeted and the original floor surfaces are not known, but they likely date from Street's restoration period.

The most important interior fixture is the early font, probably early 12th century and currently located towards the east end of the north aisle on a raised concrete plinth with step. Relief decoration around the tapering bowl comprises round arches supported on plain capitals and columns. The church also contains some medieval glass, an uncommon survival in Coventry, in the east window of the south aisle. Each of the six small lights in the window head contains an angel with golden wings and hair and a feathered body, each carrying a large shield displaying heraldry, with some repair or repainting possibly having occurred. The glass appears to be late 15th or early 16th century and therefore contemporary with the aisle.

Two 18th-century wall plaques exist in the church, commemorating William and Margery Vale and Richard Adrian, a former vicar. Some good quality late 19th and early 20th century glass is found throughout: a south chancel window of around 1870; a window in the north aisle by Hardman; and a 1913 west window in the north aisle signed by C&B, presumably Clayton and Bell. The building is seated throughout with matching modern wooden chairs.

No sign of the 12th-century form of the church, attested to by the presence of the font, is evidenced by the current fabric. The chancel may well have been rebuilt completely in the late 13th to early 14th century, although the Y-tracery windows and south door look as though they may have been inserted into earlier fabric, suggesting the chancel walls could contain older material. There is no clear indication of the extent of the 13th-century church beyond this reasonably sized chancel. That it was furnished with a rood screen is shown by the surviving opening and stair. The width of the south aisle is narrow for a late 14th-century addition, leading to speculation that an earlier aisle existed on this site when the chancel was constructed. The current arcade is difficult to date precisely from architectural details; a date of around 1300 or thereafter would not be impossible. The northern arcade is also of 14th-century date, and the irregular nature of the two arches, although with matching details, suggests this may have led into chapels or respected an earlier arrangement on the site. The current south aisle outer walls are late 15th to early 16th century, and the medieval glass in its east window is contemporary with its construction. This must have replaced the previous aisle, and the heraldic glass suggests local lay patronage. The size of the north aisle suggests space for a sizeable chapel at its east end and possibly lay burials; the potential presence of burials under the floor should be noted. An earlier window in the chancel north wall has been extended and altered to form an opening into this aisle. As access to the east end of this space was already provided by the door to the east, it is unclear when this opening was created, though it seems to reuse medieval fabric in some of the jambs. This aisle and the tower are both 15th century, but a precise sequence would depend on documentary evidence. It is unclear whether the current tower replaced an earlier structure, but this remains a possibility and might possibly explain the short nave and need for expansion to the north.

No evidence in the fabric or fittings provides information about the period between the Middle Ages and the Victorian restoration. The latter appears to have recast the upper stages of the building, with the nave and north aisle being heightened and re-roofed and a new roof for the chancel. The south aisle roof is plastered, and the possibility of older timber structure behind this must remain. Street's work of 1865 is assumed to have included the addition of the small round clerestory windows.

The size and scale of the 1980s extension has had an impact on the setting and character of the building. The internal reordering at a similar time has also affected the interior, and there are no ancient fittings, notwithstanding the font and a chest now kept against the east wall of the chancel.