Church of St Francis

Parish Church. Cl2 core, much rebuilt in C17 when the south porch was added. Restored in 1879.

MATERIALS: it is constructed of local rubble and dressed stone and flint; rendered to all but the north wall of the nave and the south porch. The south wall was rendered in 1996. There are buttresses to all but the east end. The roofs are clad with clay tiles and have stone gable-copings with cyma and ovolo kneelers.

PLAN: orientated south-west to north-east and consists of a chancel, nave, south porch and a vestry; the latter added in the early C21 and not of interest.

EXTERIOR: the south porch is built of banded flint and stone with stone copings to the gable. The segmental-headed entrance has hollow chamfers and a label with head-stops above. To the left of the porch is a round-headed single light, probably C12, and to the right is an elliptical-headed light and a window of two segmental-headed lights, both C17. The west end has a central buttress and two single lancets with labels over. The bell-cote is C17 and is surmounted by a cross. The north wall of the nave has two buttresses and a former Cl2 doorway that has a solid tympanum with a moulded label with dog-tooth ornament and square stone jambs. The lower part of the opening has been blocked, while the upper part is now a fixed window with lozenge-leaded lights. There is also a C17 window of two round-headed lights. The north chancel wall has a probable C12 single-light window, while the south elevation contains a similar window which has been widened in the C17 and a C13 lancet. The east window is C19 and has three lancets with pointed heads.

INTERIOR: the walls are rendered with exposed ashlar detailing. The chancel arch is C12 and has plain responds and chamfered imposts with chip-carved diapering. The responds have been cut back at some time and the pointed arch is probably a replacement for the original Norman arch. To the left (north) of the chancel arch is an opening to the pulpit which is C17 and is arranged with two and a half sides of a hexagon; it has been cut to fit and placed on a stone base. It is oak and has enriched angles and carved panels. In the south wall of the chancel the piscina has a C19 recess into which is set a C12 scalloped capital with a square drain. The altar is of stone with three panels, and there are C19 encaustic tiles in the sanctuary. The seating dates from the Victorian restoration, and the bench and stall ends are topped with fleur-de-lys. The stone font is C12 and has a square bowl with chamfered angles and lower edge, a cylindrical stem, and a moulded base with spur-ornaments.

The roofs have arch-braced collars which are carried on carved stone corbels with stiff leaf decoration in the Early English style, and the purlins in the two-bay chancel roof have diagonal bracing in the C15 style.