Church Of St Augustine

Church of St Augustine, Hill End

A cruciform parish church dating from around 1200, now much truncated. The original nave and south transept were demolished in the 17th century, following Civil War damage. The chancel was enlarged in the 14th century. A south tower was built in 1708, incorporating apparently reused material. The north transept was rebuilt in the 19th century and the church underwent restoration in 1890 by L. Sheppard. The church stands on a hilltop at the site of a Roman fort.

Materials and Plan

The building is constructed of dressed sandstone with hand-moulded brick to the transept and chancel north wall and machine-moulded brick to the meeting room. Roofs are of tile. The much-truncated plan now comprises a crossing with north transept, south tower, chancel with south vestry and north meeting room. There is no nave.

Exterior

The four-stage south tower has angle buttresses to the lower two stages. A south doorway features a continuous chamfer, and a two-light Decorated south window occupies the wall. Lancet windows appear in the east and west walls. The second stage has cusped windows, whilst the third stage contains cusped south and east windows with sunk spandrels to square labels. Perpendicular two-light belfry openings have louvres below an embattled parapet.

The north transept and crossing are under a single roof. The transept has shallow clasping freestone buttresses. Its west wall contains a shallow recess with a four-light Decorated window marking the position of the crossing, with a two-light window further left and a three-light Perpendicular window to the north. (The two-light east window is now enclosed by the meeting room.)

The chancel displays Decorated windows and a continuous sill band. It has a renewed five-light east window and two two-light south windows; the arch of another window was blocked when the vestry was constructed. (A two-light window in the north wall is now enclosed by the meeting room.) The low vestry has two cusped lancets in the south and east walls and a pointed west door. The meeting room is executed in low-key Tudor-Gothic style.

Interior

The crossing features nook shafts and semi-circular responds, all with fillets and scalloped capitals with pointed arches, suggesting a date of around 1200. On the outer north-west side is a blocked Tudor-headed doorway with a blocked window above it, presumably leading to a rood-loft stair. The tower arch, positioned just south of the crossing arch, appears to date from the 13th century rather than 1708, consisting of one order of continuous chamfer and two orders dying into the imposts.

The chancel has shafted rere arches and a blocked low-side window in the south wall, with sedilia under cusped ogee arches. Roofs date mainly from 1848, though the four-bay chancel roof, featuring collar-beam trusses and moulded cornice, appears to incorporate older timber. The transept roof comprises four narrow bays with arched braces and windbraces. The crossing and tower have flat boarded ceilings divided into panels by moulded ribs. Walls are of exposed stonework. The floor contains 19th-century tiles with richer tiles in the chancel.

Furnishings and Fittings

The octagonal font features foliage panels, foliage on the undersides, and a stem with attached shafts, created by H.H. Martyn & Co. A round pulpit with fine wrought-ironwork by Letheren & Sons of Cheltenham stands on a stone base. Benches of 1890 have shaped ends and panelled backs. Choir stalls, now installed in the crossing, are similar but feature openwork tracery to frontals and bench backs.

The reredos, now positioned under the west window and dating from 1905, depicts Christ in Glory and Saints Augustine of Hippo and of Canterbury within Renaissance surrounds. A re-set tomb fragment to Gerrard Dannet (died 1615) in the chancel north wall incorporates kneeling children in relief and an achievement. A small tablet to Philip Brace (died 1671) displays an achievement. Wall tablets commemorate Dorothy Holbeche (died 1771) with broken pediment, by Richard Squire; Captain Richard Norbury (died 1800) with draped urn, by W. Stephens of Worcester; and Gilbert Penrice (died 1726) with broken pediment. Fragments of old glass remain in the east window of the transept.

Five windows were created by Samuel Evans of Smethwick around 1890–91, including the Resurrection in the east window, the life of Augustine of Canterbury in the west window, and the Transfiguration in the transept north window. A chancel south window depicting the risen Christ was created by Curtis, Ward & Hughes in 1904. The north transept contains a 1914–18 war-memorial window showing Saints George and Martin by Pearce & Cutler of Birmingham, dated 1921.

Historical Development

The church occupied a hilltop site at the location of a Roman fort and had achieved a cruciform plan by the early 13th century; the crossing and some fabric of the north transept survive from this period. The chancel was enlarged in the 14th century. The church suffered partial destruction during the Civil War, after which the nave, central tower and south transept were demolished. A south tower was built in 1708 to replace the transept, apparently reusing old material. The north transept was re-faced around 1803 and the window tracery was renewed in 1848 by John Shilvock, who also constructed new roofs and added the south vestry at the same time. Shilvock enclosed the west arch of the crossing in 1850. Restoration carried out in 1890 was undertaken by Lewis Sheppard, architect of Birmingham. Most of the present furnishings date from this period, although the interior arrangements were altered in the late 20th century when the altar was relocated to the west end. A meeting room was added in 1998–99 by Patrick J. Burton, architect of Evesham.