Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary, Westcote

An Anglican parish church, principally of the 15th century, with the chancel rebuilt in 1876 by Bonner of London and the nave rebuilt in 1886. Both the nave and chancel are executed in 13th-century style, suggesting that an earlier church of that date may have occupied the site.

The building is constructed of coursed squared and dressed limestone with dressed stone quoins and a stone slate roof. The plan comprises a nave with a projecting south porch, a chancel with a vestry to the north, and a west tower.

The nave north wall features a 15th-century two-light window with ogee-curved cinquefoil-headed lights and tracery above, set within a rectangular casement-moulded surround with a hood displaying square steps. Adjacent is a 19th-century window in 14th-century style, comprising two trefoil-headed lights with a quatrefoil at the top. Between these windows is a flat-chamfered segmental-pointed arched priest's door with a stopped hood. The south wall contains two 19th-century windows, each comprising three graded lancets with a stopped hood, and displays a 19th-century corbel table. A 19th-century plank door with decorative hinges occupies the porch entrance, set within a double-chamfered pointed-headed surround with a scroll-moulded hood terminating in stylised animal head stops. The porch itself features a segmental-pointed double-chamfered arched entrance.

The chancel south wall has a flat-chamfered plinth and contains a single-pointed light and a matching two-light window, both with stopped hoods adorned with foliate stops. The north wall has a single-light window of the same design. The east window comprises three graduated lancets with a graduated stopped hood, and a blind trefoil with stopped hood rises towards the apex of the gable. A string runs below the windows on all sides of the chancel. The lean-to vestry matches the chancel style and displays a 19th-century plank door with decorative hinges within a segmental-pointed surround.

The three-stage tower features a single trefoil-headed light with stopped hoods to the lower stage on the west, with a similar window to the second stage on the south. The third stage contains two-light belfry windows also with trefoil-headed lights. A battlemented parapet crowns the tower, with strings dividing the stages. The roof displays stepped coped gables and upright cross finials on roll cross saddles. A 19th-century carved man's head with cleft beard appears on a kneeler at the north-west corner of the north aisle.

The interior comprises a four-bay nave with 19th-century arch-braced roof trusses and trussed rafter roof trusses to the chancel. A 15th-century double-chamfered arch spans from the nave to the base of the tower. A 19th-century Early English style chancel arch features engaged columns, circular capitals, and a moulded hood with foliate stops, with rere arches in similar style behind the east window. The nave has a plank floor, while the chancel floor is of coloured tile with some encaustic tiling in the sanctuary.

A 15th-century octagonal font stands inside the south door. The nave contains 19th-century pews and pulpit. The chancel is fitted with Austrian oak panelling with fillets and a frieze displaying a running foliate motif below window height. An English wooden altar, probably of 19th-century date, features decorative marquetry with dorsal and riddel posts, and is accompanied by a 19th-century carved oak chair and bench. The east window contains 19th-century stained glass, as do two windows in the nave north wall. Three stained glass windows in the south wall, created by John Hardman and dated 1925, are of particularly fine quality.