Church Of St Bartholomew

The Church of St Bartholomew is a church with origins in the 12th century, situated within a churchyard near the remains of the gate to Hyde Abbey. While the earliest fabric is visible in the south doorway and north arcade, much of the original structure has been extensively reworked or replaced in the 19th century. The tower likely dates to the 15th century, and the chancel was rebuilt between 1857 and 1859 by Colson. The north side of the church was likely rebuilt between 1879 and 1880, with further refurbishment of the chancel occurring in 1912. The church is constructed of flint with freestone dressings, with a chequered knapped flint and freestone tower and tiled roofs.

The church's plan includes a west tower, a nave with a four-bay north arcade, a chancel, a north transept, a northeast chapel with a vestry abutting its north side, and a southwest porch. The south wall displays scattered windows, seemingly renewed in the 19th century, including two with Perpendicular tracery and one trefoil-headed lancet. A shallow gabled porch, featuring a round-headed outer doorway, stands on the south side. The inner doorway, dating from around 1130, is round-headed with zig-zag and billet mouldings, nook shafts, and a tympanum carved with sunk triangles; it is believed to have been retooled. It incorporates a pillar piscina from the church of Hyde Abbey. The west tower has diagonal buttresses and a low pyramidal roof, with small, two-light belfry windows featuring chamfered lights within a square-headed frame. A chamfered doorway is present on the west side of the tower. The north aisle wall features buttressing and three large gabled half-dormers with paired windows having cusped lights below a quatrefoil. A small, gabled porch is located at the west end of the north aisle. The chancel, dating from 1859, has a triple lancet east window. The northeast chapel incorporates two-light 19th-century plate traceried windows, and the vestry has an east doorway and a tall chimney shaft with four-way gables at the top.

Inside, the four-bay north arcade features round columns with volute capitals and double roll-moulded round-headed arches. A wide, round-headed chancel arch sits above the arcade, and a four-centred chamfered arch defines the tower opening. The church has 19th-century roofs; the nave displays a crown post and tie beam configuration with two-way braces, the chancel features a canted scissor-braced roof, and the northeast chapel an A-frame roof. The chancel includes a timber reredos with a fretted frame, marble paving, a timber dado, and a plaque indicating the 1912 refurbishment. Later choir stalls, a chancel screen, and a rood figure are also present. The nave contains twenty benches, alongside a plain font with a square bowl on a cylindrical stem, a polygonal timber pulpit with a brattished cornice and statues in niches, and several 19th-century wall plaques. High-quality architectural fragments from Hyde Abbey, dating from around 1130, are incorporated into the church.

Historically, the church originally served as the parish church of Hyde, which is now incorporated into the Winchester parish. The church’s significance lies in its 12th-century origins, the later medieval tower, and the inclusion of important architectural elements from Hyde Abbey.