Church of St Michael and All Angels

Church of St Michael and All Angels

Parish church dating from approximately 1200, with significant construction phases in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, and partly rebuilt circa 1554 following a fire. The building was restored in 1868, with the tower restored again in 1909.

The church is built primarily in roughly-coursed sandstone, with the tower, north and south aisles, and south porch constructed in this material. The south chancel chapel employs random sandstone, ragstone and puddingstone with a ragstone gable. The chancel is built in random sandstone and ragstone with a sandstone base, while the north chancel chapel is of sandstone on a ragstone base. Ragstone and sandstone dressings are used throughout. The roofs are of plain tiles to the nave and chapels, with a leaded roof to the north aisle.

The plan comprises a west tower, nave with south aisle extending to the west face of the tower, south porch with parvis chamber, chancel extending east between north and south chancel chapels, and a narrower north aisle that terminates at the west end of the nave.

The west tower dates from the 13th or early 14th century with a later belfry. It has three stone stages below a fourth weatherboarded belfry stage topped with a pyramidal slate roof and weathervane. The lower stages are unplinthed. The third stage features two chamfered rectangular lancets to each face, with one opening to the east side only. The second stage has chamfered pointed lancets to north and south faces and a small west lancet with an ogee head. A broad pointed north lancet and small ogee-headed west window light the bottom stage. A blocked rectangular opening exists on the north face between the bottom and second stages. The west doorway is doubly plain-chamfered with a pointed arch in a very slight projection, featuring ragstone quoins that die back into the tower wall below the window. An integral north-west stair turret, formed as a clasping buttress with slit lights and lean-to roof, rises through the two lowest stages.

The south aisle dates from the early 14th century and has a chamfered ragstone plinth to the south with two south buttresses. The west end bay, adjoining the south side of the tower, was rebuilt in ragstone in the 19th or early 20th century, though the west gable end is continuous with the tower, has no plinth, and contains a small blocked lancet. A plain sandstone rubble parapet sits above a vestigial hollow-chamfered ragstone cornice. Two 19th-century windows in a 14th-century style stand to the west of the porch, with one to the east.

The south porch dates from the early 14th century and has a chamfered ragstone rubble plinth with a plain parapet above a flush ragstone band. Diagonal buttresses support the structure. A pointed south lancet serves the parvis chamber, while blocked rectangular east and west lancets are evident on the ground floor. The outer doorway is plain-chamfered with a doubly plain-chamfered pointed arch dying into the jambs. A moulded pointed-arched inner doorway features broach stops and retains a medieval door. Wooden benches stand to each side of the porch, which features broad close-set joists. An integral octagonal north-west stair turret rises in the angle with the nave, its corbelled parapet rising well above the porch roof.

The south chancel chapel dates from the 14th century and was partly rebuilt after the fire of 1554. It has no plinth or buttresses. The gabled structure has higher eaves and a lower ridge than the chancel. A two-light 19th-century south-west window stands adjacent to a 19th-century doorway, while a three-light 19th-century east window lights the east wall.

The chancel originates from approximately 1200 and was restored in 1868. Without plinth or buttresses, its ridge is much lower than that of the nave. One pointed-arched trefoil-headed lancet with hoodmould lights the south side, with another to the north. A 19th-century three-light east window replaces earlier fenestration. Rainwater heads dated 1868 mark the restoration campaign.

The north chancel chapel dates from the 15th century and features a chamfered ragstone plinth. It has higher eaves and a lower ridge than the chancel, with a diagonal north-east buttress and one south buttress. A 15th-century three-light east window and two 15th-century two-light north windows, each with cinquefoil-headed lights, vertical bar tracery, and moulded hoodmoulds, provide illumination.

The north aisle dates from the early 14th century and is slightly narrower than the north chapel but with higher eaves. It has no plinth, a diagonal north-west buttress, and two north buttresses supporting a lean-to roof. Vestiges of a hollow-chamfered ragstone cornice survive across the west gable end. Three three-light north windows alternate with buttresses: one 19th-century window in a 14th-century style, and two 14th-century windows, one with cusped cinquefoil tracery and the other with cusped intersecting tracery, all with hoodmoulds. A 19th-century two-light west window and a low moulded pointed-arched north doorway complete the fenestration.

Interior

The nave interior is defined by three-bay arcades of the 14th century to north and south, one slightly earlier than the other. The south arcade displays doubly hollow-chamfered pointed arches with roll-and-fillet hoodmoulds dropping to vestigial demi-figures. Octagonal columns and semi-octagonal end piers, with water-holding bases, support the arcade. Capitals alternate between moulded examples and those carved with raised oak, ivy, and water-lily leaves. The north arcade has lightly doubly plain-chamfered pointed arches and alternating circular and octagonal piers and columns with moulded capitals and bases.

A bevelled pointed chancel arch of approximately 1200 springs from moulded imposts above chamfered jambs with bar and broach stops, dividing the nave from the chancel proper.

Two-bay chancel arcades define the chancel space. The south arcade dates from the 14th century and features plain and hollow-chamfered pointed arches with engaged shafts topped by bell capitals at the ends. An octagonal column with moulded capital and base supports the arcade. The north arcade, of 15th-century date, displays doubly hollow-chamfered pointed arches and octagonal columns with semi-octagonal piers having concave sides and moulded capitals and bases. A hollow-chamfered pointed arch with similar piers connects the north chancel chapel to the north aisle. A doubly plain-chamfered pointed arch separates the south chapel from the south aisle, with the outer order dying into the wall and the inner springing from corbels, one of which bears a carved face.

A relatively low plain-chamfered pointed tower arch, of 13th or early 14th-century date, with broach stops and no imposts, connects the tower base to the nave. An unbevelled pointed arch opens between the tower base and the west end bay of the south aisle, though no access exists from the rest of the aisle. Concave ashlared architraves and moulded rere-arches frame windows of the north chancel chapel. A boarded window separates the parvis chamber from the south aisle. A blocked pointed-arched north doorway exists in the north wall. A plain-chamfered pointed-arched doorway with broach stops in the south wall of the south aisle provides access to parvis chamber stairs, while a doorway with a cambered head in the south wall of the north aisle serves the rood loft stairs.

The nave roof is a crown-post roof with four moulded octagonal crown posts, sous-laces, ashlar-pieces, and chamfered tie-beams. The chancel roof is similarly a crown-post roof with two square moulded crown posts, sous-laces, and ashlar-pieces. The north chapel roof follows the chancel pattern, adjusted to the east on account of the window. The south chapel roof is a restored crown-post roof. Aligned-butt-purlin lean-to roofs cover each aisle.

Fittings and Monuments

A moulded octagonal stone font, carved with initials and the date RB EM 1662, serves the church. A tall octagonal wooden font cover, probably of similar date, has sides hinged to enable the front four panels to open out in two leaves. The sides are arcaded with a moulded and modillioned cornice crowned by vase finials at each corner and a tall central finial.

A moulded pointed-arched 14th-century tomb recess with a cinquefoiled soffit and remains of a triangular pediment occupies the east end of the south wall of the south chancel chapel. A tablet on the south wall of the south chancel chapel commemorates Edward Cole, Gent., who died in 1757, with the inscription erected circa 1803. The inscription is flanked by spiky foliage and tapering reeded columns. A moulded plinth and shaped base-plate with a cherub's head support a moulded cornice bearing urns, above which rises a grey marble obelisk with a draped urn in relief.

A tablet on the east wall of the north side of the nave commemorates George Maplesden, who died in 1688, erected after 1755. The inscription is flanked by inverted scrolls, with a plinth moulded and consoled. A moulded triangular pediment surmounts the tablet, bearing a coat of arms and an armoured arm carrying an axe-head, set against a triangular obelisk topped with a small gadrooned urn.

Stained glass by Patrick Reyntiens, dated 1962, fills three chancel windows. The north and south windows feature abstract designs, while the east window depicts Christ in Majesty flanked by an angel with a trumpet and an angel with a lance.