Church Of St Mary

MADRESFIELD CP - SO 84 NW 6/65 Church of St Mary 25.3.68 - II Church. 1866-7 by F Preedy, incorporating some material from previous church of 1852 by Edward Welby Pugin. Snecked sandstone rubble with bands of red ashlar and tile roof. Comprises a nave, north-west tower with spire, south porch, lower chancel, and north transept. The three-stage tower has bell openings of two trefoiled ogee lights under a pointed head with trefoil. The clock, in the middle stage, has a stone face. The west doorway is moulded and pointed, with gabled surround. The ribbed stone spire is set back behind an embattled parapet and has 2-light lucernes. The west window of the nave is of three trefoiled ogee lights with Geometric ,tracery under a pointed head. The north wall of the nave is of two bays and has windows of two and three trefoiled lights with pointed heads: the former has flowing tracery. The north window of the transept is of two trefoiled lights under a pointed head with quatrefoil. The chancel north window is of one trefoiled light with a trefoil below the pointed head. The south wall of the nave is of two bays and has windows of two and three tre- foiled lights with Geometric tracery. In the south chancel wall are two windows of two trefoiled lights with flowing tracery. The east window is of three cusped lights with Geometric tracery. The porch has a coped gable with cross finial and a pointed doorway moulded in two orders with angle shafts. The caps are carved with leaves and flowers. The inner doorway is also moulded and pointed, with foliated caps to the angle shafts. Interior: nave roof trusses of pine rise from carved corbels. They have short king-posts and raking struts above collars, which have short straight braces to the principals and larger curved inner braces. The pointed chancel arch is moulded in two orders, the inner one having corbelled responds and the outer one angle shafts with foliated caps. Wall painting surrounding the arch was added in 1894. An oak rood screen is carved with tracery decoration. The chancel windows have marble inner shafts. The east wall has stencilled and painted decoration. The chancel roof, re-used from Pugin's church, has archbraced collar trusses and curved wind-braces. Part of the reredos also came from the earlier church. Against the west wall of the nave is a memorial by Countess Gleichen to the Hon Edward Hugh Lygon and the Hon Richard Fitzroy Somerset, who died in South Africa in 1900 and 1899 respectively. It comprises a bronze frieze of figures in relief between mosaic bands, linking canopied figures of Obedience, Fortitude, and Loyalty. (VCH, Vol 4, p 121).

Listing NGR: SO8048447477