Parish Church Of St Remigus

Parish church of St Remigus, Water Newton

This parish church shows construction spanning from the 12th century onwards, with medieval stones reused throughout. The building comprises a nave with north and south aisles, a chancel, and a west tower with spire.

The earliest work includes 12th-century stones, followed by a 13th-century chancel and south aisle. The north aisle and lengthened nave date to the mid-13th century. In the early 14th century, a west tower was constructed and the south aisle was rebuilt and possibly widened, with a south porch added. The nave clerestory was built in the 14th century. Late 14th and 15th-century alterations include a remodelled doorway to the tower and the closing of the west end of the north aisle. The building underwent restoration in 1887, during which the chancel arch, north arcade and aisle were rebuilt.

The walls are constructed of limestone rubble with Barnack dressings and ashlar limestone. Roofs are covered with Collyweston stone slate and lead.

The south elevation features a two-stage west tower with a corbel table bearing mask-corbels and small carved animals at its base. The spire is of ashlar with two ranges of lights: the lower range has two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a gabled head, and the upper range has a single light with a trefoiled gabled head. The spire top has been restored. The belfry window has two pointed lights cut into round arches with detached shafted jambs and chevron ornament. A niche in the west wall has moulded jambs and a two-centred head with label, containing a figure of a man and an inscribed panel reading "Vous ke par issi passey pur le alme Thomas Purdeu priez". The nave clerestory has three windows, each of two pointed lights in two-centred arches with moulded labels and mask and head stops. A late 13th-century south doorway has a two-centred arch of two moulded orders with moulded label and mask stops. Three mid-14th-century windows have two square-headed lights. The south porch has a two-centred outer archway of two chamfered orders with moulded label and mask stops, responds with attached shafts and moulded capitals and bases, and a gable with carved apex stone.

The chancel has three windows: two mid-14th-century with two square-headed lights, moulded labels and mask stops, and a low-side window of one square-headed light. A mid-14th-century doorway has chamfered jambs and a segmental head; earlier window jambs are visible. A reset lancet window is also present.

The interior features nave arcades of three bays. The north arcade, rebuilt in 1887, is 13th-century work with round arches of one chamfered order with plain labels, octagonal columns with moulded capitals and bases. The south arcade has two eastern bays of early 13th-century date with similar arches; the eastern column is quatrefoil in plan and the western column is octagonal, both with moulded capitals and bases. The tower doorway has a two-centred head and chamfered jambs, while a stair turret doorway has a square head. A piscina is present in the east wall and south aisle, along with a bracket in the south aisle.

The chancel arch, restored using some original material, is flanked by a 14th-century piscina with chamfered jambs and segmental arch. Sedilia of three bays feature moulded two-centred arches and labels with head-stops, with shafts between the bays having moulded capitals and bases. Brackets are present on the east wall. A restored 15th-century chancel screen of five bays survives. Two bench ends in the chancel have poppy-heads, and one pew-end has carved heads. The font is 15th-century with an octagonal bowl decorated with quatrefoiled and sixfoiled panels and a modern step. The nave roof, restored, contains six reset 15th-century carved angels.