Church Of St Ciricus And Julitta

Church of St Ciricus and Julitta

This parish church was enlarged and partly rebuilt prior to 1336, when it was rededicated by Bishop Grandisson. The tower, south aisle, porch and south door date from this period. The north aisle and south chapel are probably of the 15th century. The church is said to have had a cruciform plan before 1336.

The building is constructed of rubblestone with slate roofs. The nave and chancel are in one with a continuous roof. There is a 5-bay south aisle with a south chapel under another single roof, not quite the full length of the chancel, and a 4-bay north aisle continuing to the west end of the south chapel. The building features a moulded tower plinth, with differing plinths to the south aisle and porch, south aisle chapel, chancel and north aisle. An octagonal rood stair turret rises from the east end of the south aisle. Angle buttresses appear on the north-east and north-west corners of the north aisle.

Much of the tracery was replaced in the late 19th and 20th centuries and subsequently restored. The south aisle west window has replaced 3-light Perpendicular tracery. The south aisle contains four Perpendicular 3-light windows with cusped heads beneath rectangular hoods, with a C19 restoration window to the east. The south priests door has a 4-centred arch with slight cavetto mould. The east end of the south aisle has a 3-light Perpendicular window with partly replaced tracery. The north aisle has four 3-light Perpendicular windows beneath 4-centred arches, largely restored in the 19th century.

The tower is of two stages with a thick stepped angle buttress and a battlemented cornice without pinnacles. A staircase projection on the north side has small rectangular slit openings. The west door has a 2-centred arch with moulded jambs stopped on the right; the base is eroded and partly replaced on the left. A hood features round stops. Above is a 3-light Perpendicular window in a 2-centred arch with hood and drips and moulded jambs, the tracery partly restored. The belfry has 2-light trefoiled openings with slate louvres beneath rectangular hoods on all four faces.

The south porch has a 2-centred granite arch with moulded jambs featuring a double roll with cavetto between, and a hood with carved labels. The south door has a 2-centred granite arch with double roll mould and cavetto on a slightly smaller scale than the outer door. Above the south door is a rounded arch to a niche with an inscription dated 1773, and there is an 18th-century south door.

The south aisle arcade has five bays with granite piers of four demi shafts with four sharply keeled minor shafts between, heavy moulded round capitals and wide 2-centred arches. The east bay has a 4-centred arch springing from an engaged Pevsner type A moulding to the east. The north aisle arcade has four bays with four demi shafts and four minor shafts between, more angular capitals with carved faces and 4-centred arches, with earlier responds.

An original waggon roof in the porch features ornate reused bosses (comparable to the pulpit). The nave, aisles and chancel have waggon roofs, now plastered. Carved contemporary wall plates sit on moulded stone wall plates. The tower arch is slightly pointed and unmoulded, with a chamfered tower door and stops. A squint connects the north aisle and chancel.

Five bench ends, dating to around 1520, are located in the south aisle chapel. The nave and chancel have been reseated. The font is 15th-century elvan stone, octagonal with faces decorated with trefoils and quatrefoils in roundels, waisted with an octagonal base. A simple 18th-century timber pulpit is further ornamented with roof carvings from Oxford Colleges comprising classical foliage festoons, cartouches and crossed keys, similar to the reused bosses in the porch. The north wall of the chancel features painted Royal arms of Charles II dated 1661, and the east side of the south door has Royal arms of George III dating to around 1780. The church was restored in 1977.

Memorials include one above the south door in the south aisle to Nicholas Courtney, Gent, dated 1589. The church contains a peal of six bells cast in 1770 and dedicated to St Veep, cast by Pennington of Bradford. These bells form a virgin peal, emerging from the moulds in perfect tune—no other examples exist in England. The bell frame dates to 1936.

The churchyard is probably a medieval enclosure. Advowson was attached to the manor of Manely at the time of the Conquest.