Church Of St Bartholomew

Church of St Bartholomew

This is a parish church of 12th-century origin, substantially altered in the 15th century and again in 1817, with restoration work carried out in 1905. The building is constructed partly of sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings and partly of sandstone ashlar, with plain tiled roofs that run continuously over the nave and chancel and terminate with a parapet at the east end.

The church comprises a west tower, nave with south porch, chancel, and north organ chamber. The architectural style reflects both Perpendicular and Georgian periods.

The west tower dates to 1817 and is divided into two stages separated by a band. The lower stage has diagonal buttresses with offsets at the west end and chamfered plinths. Two pointed windows with Y-tracery are positioned one above the other in the west elevation, and a pointed south door rises above a date stone with circular moulding. The upper belfry stage contains pointed single-light louvred bell-chamber openings. All openings on both stages feature moulded keyblocks and imposts. Above the belfry stage sits a moulded cornice and embattled parapet.

The nave walls are 12th century in origin, though the windows were replaced around 1905. The west end has rectangular lights flanking the tower. The easternmost windows of the north and south elevations are of 3 lights; the north example has a cambered head and the south one a 4-centred head, both retaining their original 12th-century jambs. Both elevations also feature a 2-light square-headed westernmost window with a hood mould and returns.

The south porch dates to 1905 and is timber-framed with a gable on a sandstone base. It has a chamfered pointed archway flanked by ogee-arched openings, with a brattished tie-beam above. Four square panels on each side contain upper cusped ogee-arched traceried details with rendered infill. The underlying south doorway is 12th century with a round-arched shafted order featuring lozenge detail on the face and soffit, a similar rear arch, and a plain tympanum.

The chancel walls are 12th century at the west end, with the remainder rebuilt in 1905. Angled buttresses with offsets project from the west end. The east window is of 5 lights with a loophole above. 2-light square-headed windows with hood moulds and returns occupy the eastern end of the side elevations. A blocked window's plain jambs are visible in the south-west wall, beneath which sits a mid-17th-century memorial bearing a Latin inscription. A gabled organ chamber projects from the north-west wall, featuring a cusped lancet at its north gable end; steps on its east side lead down to a basement door with a cambered head.

The interior nave roof is 15th century, featuring cambered tie-beams, braced collars, and two tiers of paired swept wind-braces. The chancel roof is a wagon roof of 1905. The chancel screen, also 1905, has a wide central pointed archway with narrow traceried openings to each side and small traceried openings in the spandrels. The roof truss above has close-set struts positioned above and below the collar.

The chancel contains sedilia and choir stalls that incorporate early 17th-century linenfold panelling with fishscale detail similar to that found at nearby Shakenhurst. A pointed archway leads from the chancel into the organ chamber.

The font is a fine mid-12th-century example of circular plan, with a bowl elaborately carved with beaded scroll and cable mouldings and a stem enriched with formal foliage in low relief. The pulpit incorporates some 17th-century panelling with frieze detail. A hatchment is displayed on the west wall.

This medieval church retains much of its original walling, its 15th-century nave roof, and a fine Norman font.