Church Of St Michael And All Angels

This parish church dates from the 12th century, with a late 15th-century tower and alterations to the aisles from the same period. The chancel was repaired in 1853 and restored in 1901 for Reverend W. Burland. The building is constructed of sandstone rubble with limestone ashlar at the upper levels of the aisles and corners of the chancel, limestone dressings throughout, and lead roofs with raised coped verges.

Exterior

The church consists of a west tower, nave, north aisle with north porch, south aisle with south chapel, and chancel. The Norman-style nave survives with Perpendicular work to the tower and aisle alterations, and Decorated-style 19th-century modifications.

Tower

The four-stage tower features a four-centred arched west door in a moulded surround with carved spandrels, hood mould and string course above. A tall three-light window sits above with hood mould. The second stage has an image niche with pinnacles and a diagonal shaft with crockets above, with similar diagonal shafts to each side. The third stage has a similar image niche. The fourth stage contains a two-light bell-opening with stone louvres, an image niche and diagonal shaft to each side.

The south and north sides have a lower string course matching the west elevation. The second stage on the north has a small trefoil-headed window of two lights with diagonal shafts to each side. An octagonal north stair turret features a four-centred arched door, lancets, and diagonal shafts at the corners at the second stage, topped by a pierced stone parapet.

The east side of the tower above the nave roof has paired string courses with a gargoyle on the lower string and crocketed diagonal shafts between. The third and fourth stages match the west elevation. The tower has a plinth, strings between stages, and diagonal weathered buttresses with shafts on lower set-offs, possibly formerly intended for images. Gargoyles appear at the third stage and pinnacled shafts at the fourth stage, with pinnacles at the top. The top string course features gargoyles and a pierced stone tracery parapet.

North Elevation

The four-bay north aisle has three 19th-century three-light Decorated-style windows with hood moulds. The second bay from the right has a gabled porch with pointed arched opening, moulded verges and cross finial. The nave has four clerestorey windows visible above the north aisle, round-headed with torus mouldings. A Norman corbel table with zigzag and beading runs along the nave, with mask and monster corbels alternating with beaded corbels. To the east under the corbel table is a wider zigzag and beaded corbel. A cross finial tops the nave.

South Elevation

The four-bay south aisle has a three-light Perpendicular west window with hood mould, and three three-light south windows with hood moulds. The second bay from the left has a pointed arched door with hood mould and mask stops. Diagonal buttresses and buttresses support the structure.

The south chapel has similar south and east windows, a small pointed arched door to the east, plinth, weathered string course, cornice, parapet and coping.

Chancel

The two-bay chancel has a Perpendicular-style east window from 1902 with an ogee head and hood mould, a quatrefoil above and cross finial. To the south is a lancet with cusped trefoil head, hood mould and small mask stops. To the north, a large weathered buttress flanks a similar lancet with plain hood mould to each side, with a small blocked rectangular lancet above and an upper door to the right with four-centred arched chamfered head. The door is plank and batten with strap hinges. A chamber over the chancel was formerly used as a pigeon loft.

Interior

Tower

The tower has a framed ceiling in nine panels with moulded ribs and four bosses on corbels. The tall pointed tower arch has a panelled soffit and jambs with cusped ends to the panels, and a hollow-chamfered and wave-moulded surround.

Nave

The nave has a wagon ceiling with moulded ribs forming seven bays, with bosses along the moulded ridge purlin, mask corbels under the ribs and a moulded wall-plate.

The four-bay north arcade comprises cylindrical columns on plain plinths with circular scalloped capitals and one-stepped round arches. The pier to the east has more elaborate moulded scallops on a square capital with chevrons above. Four round-headed clerestorey lights sit above with segmental rear arches.

The four-bay south arcade has three similar columns to the west. The fourth column is twisted spirally with flutes flanked by rolls, flanked by beading. The arch to the east was raised in the 15th century to Perpendicular style with a small jamb-shaft to the west, hollow-chamfered and wave-moulded. Only the upper section of the clerestorey window above remains. Three clerestorey lights to the west match those on the north side but are unglazed because of the raised south aisle roof.

A wide, moulded segmental arch leads to the chancel. The pier to the south has wave-moulding to each of its four sides, a shaft-ring and moulded capital, also serving as a springer for the chancel vault and south chapel arch. A similar engaged pier stands to the north. A brattished wall-plate sits above the chancel arch, with a three-light 19th-century trefoil-headed window above with pointed segmental headed rear arch.

North Aisle

The north aisle has a pitched roof of four bays with arched-braces, principal and common rafters and one purlin, all moulded with fine carved bosses. The arched-braces rise from stone mask corbels. To the east is a round-arched recess, possibly a former Easter sepulchre, with a small square niche to the left.

The north porch has a two-bay 19th-century roof with tie-beam, king-post and struts. The pointed arched surround to the door is hollow-moulded with slender jamb shafts. The door has raised fillets and strap hinges.

South Aisle and Chapel

The south aisle roof was raised above the Norman corbel table visible on the north nave exterior. The stonework above the south arcade is rubble with mortices from the former aisle roof, with dressed masonry above the former roof line and similar mouldings to the clerestorey windows. The four-bay 19th-century roof has tie-beams set on wall-posts on corbels, with braces featuring pierced carving between the tie and principal rafters, and a purlin with struts to the tie-beam.

A pointed arched, hollow-moulded surround frames the south door. A moulded pointed arch leads to the south chapel, with an engaged pier to the south featuring two nave mouldings.

The south chapel has a roof matching that in the south aisle. A four-centred arch opens to the chancel, with an engaged pier to the east with wave-mouldings and brattished capital. A former upper window to the chancel is blocked, with remains of a possible carved figure.

Chancel

The chancel has two stone rib-vaulted quadripartite bays. The transverse arch rests on strong tripartite shafts with scalloped capitals with chevrons to the south and trefoil tops with scallops and chevrons to the north. The arch is square in section with zigzag decoration on the west face. The ribs have a half-roll profile flanked by hollows. The west bay has a rib to the north-west rising from a corbel with scallop and chevron capital, and four animal heads in flat relief carved at the meeting of four ribs. The east bay has two engaged shafts to the east with scallop and chevron capitals serving as springers for the ribs.

Fittings and Monuments

The church contains a Norman piscina on a plain shaft in the chancel, found at Priddy, and a Norman font in the nave, circular with chip-carved zigzag frieze. A carved wooden Perpendicular-style screen stands to the west and north of the south chapel. A 19th-century Romanesque stone pulpit stands in the nave, and a Russian icon hangs in the north aisle. Two boards in the porch record gifts to the parish, and two brass chandeliers hang in the nave.

In the north aisle is a painted recumbent effigy, circa 1290, possibly of Thomas de Morton, flatly carved and set in a recess with a wide triangular arch with rosettes on hollow moulding. Memorial tablets include a marble tablet with woman and anchor to Ann Hoskyns, 1800; a marble tablet to John Hoskyns, 1805 by Wood of Bristol; a marble sarcophagus tablet to Sir John Henniker, 1872, by E. Bingham of London; and an 18th-century stone tablet with obscured inscription.

In the south aisle is a stone tablet with broken segmental pediment and cherub to James Millard, 1777. In the south chapel, a stone tablet with bolection-moulded surround and scallop shell has an illegible dedication dated 1722, and a ledger stone beneath the organ commemorates George Roynon, 1637. On the north arcade, a marble tablet with segmental pediment commemorates John and Mary Weekes, 1722.

The east window contains stained glass by Murray of London, 1902.