Church Of St Bartholomew

Church of St. Bartholomew

Parish church of the 13th century, with 15th-century aisles and tower arch. The 19th century saw remodelling of the porch and restoration work. The building is constructed of sandstone rubble, coursed in the tower, with limestone dressings and slate roofs featuring raised coped verges and cross-finials.

The church comprises a west tower, nave, north aisle, north porch, south aisle, and chancel, predominantly in Perpendicular style, with remodelling and rebuilding from different periods.

The two-stage west tower has a three-light pointed arched west window with hood mould and relieving arch. The second stage has two-light bell-openings on each side with cusped lights, slate louvres, pointed arch and hood mould, and a lancet on the north side below the bell-opening. The tower has limestone quoins, moulded plinth, weathered diagonal buttresses, an embattled parapet with gargoyles, crocketed pinnacles at the corners, and a stone spire with finial and cross. A south-east stair tower has one weathered set-off, lancets, a similar parapet and pinnacles, and a pyramidal stone roof.

The four-bay north aisle has three windows to the north, all three-light with four-centred arched heads and hood moulds. It has weathered buttresses, plinth, cornice and parapet with pierced cusped lozenge frieze, and crocketed pinnacles above each buttress. A pointed arched two-light west window and a similar three-light east window are present; the roof-line visible from the original narrow aisle shows remaining quoins. The second bay from the west has a gabled porch with diagonal buttresses and a pointed arched opening with inner shafts and hood mould. The 19th-century porch roof has arched-brace, collar and ridge purlin construction. The inner door has a four-centred arch and hollow-moulded surround, with a heavy door featuring raised moulded fillets and strap hinges. Remains of a former image niche survive above.

The five-bay south aisle contains a two-light pointed arched window with cusped heads, quatrefoil above and hood mould, and three other windows in rectangular surrounds with three-lights and cusped heads. It has weathered buttresses and diagonal buttresses, no plinth, cornice with gargoyles, and a similar parapet without pinnacles, probably rebuilt in the 19th century. A central bay has a door with triangular head and strap hinges, with a scratch dial to its left (gnomon missing). To the west, a set-off from the stair tower and continued plinth show the original aisle line. A three-light east window with pointed arch is present. The chancel has pointed arched lancets to the north and south, and a three-light east window with pointed arch and hood mould; the nave roof is at the same level as the chancel.

Interior

The tower has a 19th-century framed ceiling, a pointed arched and hollow-chamfered door to the tower, and a carved ledge on a shield corbel to the north, possibly formerly for an image and re-set. A tall pointed arch to the nave has two broad wave-moulds.

The nave has a 19th-century wagon roof with wall-plate and a four-bay arcade to north and south. All pointed arches have two chamfered orders except the second arch from the east in the north arcade, which has a round head. All piers stand on a moulded plinth with four hollows and shafts at the corners, with moulded capitals. The north-east pier is octagonal. A tall pointed arch to the chancel has the same mouldings as the tower arch, with a former rood stair door at upper level to the south. A small shallow recess on the south-east pier has two pointed heads.

The north aisle has a shallow eight-bay roof with moulded ridge purlin and principal rafters with one row of purlins. A pointed arch of two chamfered orders leads to the north chapel with two further bays of the same roof construction and an engaged pier to the north as in the north arcade. A pointed arch with two chamfered orders connects to the chancel.

The south aisle has a seven-bay pitched roof with moulded principal rafters rising from stone mask corbels and moulded purlin. Two similar bays form the south chapel with a moulded brace in the central truss forming two pitches. A small piscina on the south wall is present, along with a similar pointed arch to the chancel.

The chancel has a ceiled four-bay 19th-century wagon roof and a south piscina with cusped head.

Fittings

A stone font in the nave has a square bowl, possibly of the 13th century. An early 19th-century board in the nave records gifts to the parish. The pulpit in the nave is made from 17th-century carved wooden panelling, as is the reredos. A carved wooden altar table in the chancel is dated 1637. A piece cut from a bell dated 1622, bearing the Prince of Wales' feathers, is displayed in the north aisle, along with a chained Bible in a showcase with similar panelling set behind.

Monuments in the tower include a stone tablet with verse to Mary Bush, 1679; a similar tablet to Mary Bishop, 1707; a stone tablet to John Parker, 1811; a stone tablet with carved surround, hourglass and crossed bones, to Edmund Dribbick, 1701; a small marble sarcophagus tablet to Ann Pyatt, 1821; and a stone memorial with raised curved oval and carved cherubs on the surround, to Thomas Jouxon, 1996.

The east window contains stained glass of the Crucifixion by J. B. Capronnier of Brussels, dated 1877.