Church of St Bartholomew

Church of St Bartholomew

This is an Anglican parish church with 12th-century origins, substantially developed and remodelled over subsequent centuries. The church began in the 12th century, received an early 14th-century north aisle, and was further enlarged with a later 14th-century south aisle. The east end was remodelled in the 15th century. The building underwent heavy restoration between 1875 and 1878 by G.E. Street, during which the central tower was removed and replaced with a south tower and spire. The chancel was restored at the same time by C.F. Hansom, who added the north Methuen Chapel in 1878–79. The exterior is constructed of ashlar with stone tiled roofs and coped gables.

The nave's west end features a 15th-century three-light west window, an ashlar stair tower to the right, and a 16th-century three-light mullion window with hoodmould in the gable. The south aisle has a stepped buttress at its west end to the left and a diagonal buttress to the right. The windows here include a three-light 14th-century west window with flowing tracery, and along the south side 14th-century windows with 15th-century tracery—two-light and three-light windows to the left of the porch and a three-light window to the right. These three-light windows once had unusual battlemented ashlar dormers above them, added in 1631 to light a gallery, but these were removed around 1875–78.

The south porch is a large, projecting 15th-century structure, two storeys high and battlemented, with diagonal buttresses, a high plinth, moulded string courses, and a sundial over the centre battlement. A moulded south arch breaks the string course, with a two-light window and hoodmould over it, flanked by two ornate statue niches with crocketted canopies. A larger west-side statue niche with canopy breaks the upper string course. Inside the porch is an inner tierceron-star vault with carved heads to the centre boss and angle corbels. A moulded pointed south doorway has a door by Street, above which is an 1684 plaque to W. Tasker. Stone seats and a south-side 17th-century Tudor arched moulded doorway with a plank door give access to an east-side addition to the porch containing stairs to a former gallery. This addition, added in 1631 by E. and M. Hungerford, features ornate battlements bearing the Hungerford arms, initials, and date, a diagonal buttress, an east-side stepped buttress, and two two-light cusped-head mullion windows.

The south transeptal tower by Street consists of three stages with clasping buttresses up to the second stage and an east-side stair tower. The south-west buttress bears a carved War Memorial rood of circa 1922 by H. Brakspear. A large Perpendicular-style south window sits over a narrow door, with lancets to the second-stage south and east sides, a clock to the west side, and two-light Perpendicular-style bell openings to the third stage with a pierced parapet and pinnacles above. The recessed octagonal spire has pinnacles at the diagonal bases and gabled two-light openings at the bases of the cardinal faces.

The south chancel aisle was rebuilt in the 15th century with two broad four-centred Perpendicular south windows with carved head stops to the hoodmoulds. A similar east window lacks head stops. The east end of the chapel contains an inserted floor for a consistory court room, and its windows are partially infilled with ashlar. The 15th-century chancel east end has diagonal buttresses, a blocked south window, and three-light east and north windows.

The north chancel aisle was rebuilt circa 1465–80 for T. Tropenell of Great Chalfield. It has a south-east buttress partly obscured by the chancel, a diagonal north-east buttress, a three-light east window, and two three-light north windows. The early 14th-century north aisle is gabled to east and west. The Methuen Chapel, added in 1878–79, projects north from this aisle and is constructed in coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, featuring a north rose window, an east three-light window, and an ornate west doorway bearing the Methuen monogram with a two-light window to its right. Beyond the aisle are two buttresses added in 1816 and two early 14th-century two-light windows flanking a restored Norman north doorway with a zig-zag arch, presumed to have been resited from a 12th-century north aisle. The west end features a 14th-century three-light window over a late 17th-century moulded basket-arched doorway with keystone, imposts, and a broad curved hood on brackets.

Interior

The interior features wagon roofs to the nave, aisles, and north-east chapel, with plaster removed except in the north-east chapel. A panelled 15th-century roof covers the south-east chapel, extending one bay into the south aisle. The chancel has a 19th-century panelled roof. The nave contains four-bay Norman arcades with scallop caps, heavily renewed, with the west-end bay evidently added and an additional east bay inserted in 1878 in place of the crossing tower. Glass in the west window and one south window dates to circa 1878. A circa 1850 stone pulpit stands in the nave. A 15th-century octagonal font is present.

The north-east chapel has 14th-century arches to the north aisle and chancel. The arch to the north aisle features a heavily restored 15th-century stone screen with fan-vaulting under the cornice. Its east window contains glass of circa 1878. The south-east chapel has a matching stone screen of 1929 by H. Brakspear, and its south window dates to 1906 by Comper. The chancel has a circa 1878 chancel arch, marble sanctuary paving, and Perpendicular-style panelling to the reredos and side walls. Two circa 1880 angel statues by Sir J.E. Boehm stand in the chancel. A 15th-century panelled pair of arches leads to the south chapel, which has a carved angel corbel. The east window is of circa 1892 in the style of Kempe. A consistory room at the east end of the south-east chapel features a Tudor-arched doorway with a plank door. The wall above contains a 15th-century Perpendicular painted wooden panelled gallery, possibly reset from a rood screen.

The church contains numerous monuments. The north-east chapel holds a very large 15th-century carved chest tomb of T. Tropenell of Great Chalfield and a small 15th-century chest tomb of C. Tropenell. The Methuen Chapel contains an alabaster memorial to Alice Cobb of circa 1630, removed from Adderbury in Oxfordshire and reconstructed, and a sleeping child effigy of Emma Methuen by J.G. Lough dating to 1860. The north aisle has a plain neo-Grec memorial to E. Harington, died 1817, by C. Rossi. The chancel contains a fine 1632 memorial to J. and T. Hulbert with a similar addition to J. Hulbert, died 1653. The south tower displays numerous reset 17th- and 18th-century monuments, notably to R. Lewis died 1706 and N. Handcock died 1693. Further memorials appear in the south-east chapel, notably to W. Chapman died 1675, and in the chancel, notably to E. Rede, died 1617.