Church Of The Holy Cross

Church of the Holy Cross

This parish church comprises a nave and chancel of 13th-century date, a south transept of 13th or 14th-century origin, a 15th-century tower, and a vestry probably dating from the 19th century. The building is constructed of stone rubble with granite dressings, the tower being of ashlar masonry with granite quoins and lacing coursing. All roofs are covered in slate.

The church retains an essentially Early English and Perpendicular character, though it incorporates considerable 19th-century replacement work. The original 13th-century nave and chancel may have been extended in the 14th century by the addition of the south transept. The vestry, while probably of late medieval construction, may predate the tower.

The chancel features a 19th-century three-light Decorated east window with bar tracery. A chamfered lancet on the north side has buff brick jambs, though the window head appears to be medieval in origin. The north side of the nave has three windows: the easternmost is a tall two-light square-headed cusped Perpendicular window, while the two westernmost are chamfered lancets with 19th-century external masonry but probably medieval internal fabric. On the south side, the westernmost window is a trefoil-headed 19th-century lancet with hoodmould and label stops. To the left of the porch stands a late 13th-century trefoil-headed lancet.

The small 19th-century south west porch has a gabled slate roof, a segmental arched stone doorway, and a canted ceiled waggon roof with ribs and bosses. The south transept displays a rebuilt gable and a three-light granite Perpendicular south window with hoodmould and label stops. The south east vestry is set back from the transept and features a roll-moulded arched granite doorway on its south side and a probably re-sited trefoil-headed lancet on the east side.

The slender unbuttressed west tower rises in three stages, crowned with a battlemented parapet and polygonal corner pinnacles bearing tall crocketed finials. A moulded segmental-arched west doorway has hoodmould, label stops, and carved spandrels. The west window is a three-light Perpendicular granite opening with hoodmould and label stops. At the bellringers' stage on the east face is one rectangular chamfered opening, and all four faces have two-light chamfered arched belfry openings.

Internally, the walls are plastered. The chancel arch is chamfered, while the tower arch is double-chamfered with the inner order carried on large granite corbels. The nave retains a 19th-century canted boarded waggon roof with moulded ribs and bosses. The chancel has a 19th-century scissor brace roof. A trabiated 19th-century timber opening into the south transept features pierced cusped spandrels, and the transept roof follows the same pattern as the nave.

The chancel fittings date to approximately the early 20th century, including a timber reredos, altar, and poppy-head choir stalls. The sanctuary is lined with a brattished dado of linenfold panels. The timber drum pulpit with blind tracery panels is also probably of early 20th-century date.

A 12th-century font survives, its bowl carved with a frieze and its base featuring palmette carving and profile heads at the corners. Some unusual rustic benches, dating to approximately the early 16th century or later, survive; these are carved with leaves and architectural detail. The south transept served as the Arscott family pew and incorporates 17th and 18th-century woodwork into its seating.

A wall monument in the transept commemorates John Arscotte, sheriff of the county, who died in 1699. The monument features Corinthian columns flanking an inscription panel, surmounted by a scrolled pediment with armorial bearings above. Several good 18th-century wall monuments are also present. The window above the font dates to the late 1880s and was produced by the Hardman Company.

The church forms part of an important architectural group that includes Tetcott Manor and associated buildings.