Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

Parish church. Built 1863–4 by S.S. Teulon for the 2nd Earl of Ducie. Constructed in ashlar limestone with stone slate roof. The building comprises a nave with north aisle, south porch, tower with spire, and chancel with south vestry and organ loft.

The exterior presents a boldly positioned tower with angle buttresses and a west-facing porch in the form of a lean-to. The south porch features a moulded pointed arch with attached sandstone shafts and foliage capitals; a 20th-century lobby screen has been inserted. A pointed arched arcade with sandstone shafts frames the main and rere arches on the west side of the porch.

The tower rises in three stages. The main south window displays geometrical tracery, while each face of the second stage has two lancets. Traceried belfry openings incorporate stone louvres. An octagonal stair turret set at the centre of the east side rises two stages with a coped top. Below slightly machicolated eaves stands an elegant broach spire with lucarnes facing the cardinal directions and small pierced quatrefoil spire vents.

The offset buttressed nave and north aisle walls have geometrical tracery to all windows. Large five-light east and west windows display geometrical tracery. A boldly moulded west doorway features attached sandstone shafts. The vestry and organ loft project over the falling gradient with an undercroft below. The church makes a strong visual impact when viewed from the east, with a typical Teulon south-facing rose window above a row of sandstone-shafted lancets, and a small gable on the east side with shafted lights beneath.

Interior

The interior is ashlar-faced throughout, with all rere arches having alternating light and dark stone voussoirs. The five-bay north arcade has circular piers, each with four attached shafts and combined capitals deeply undercut with foliage carving. A pointed tower arch is now partially blocked.

The nave roof comprises five bays of hammerbeam construction. A wide moulded chancel arch is supported on triple sandstone shafts with large base corbels. The chancel roof is a two-bay arched braced collar truss with a central double truss; corbels depict angels holding musical instruments. The chancel floor is tiled, though a 20th-century floor levelling conceals much of this. The reredos is illustrated with a Last Supper scene in tiles. Delicate tracery carving adorns the timber chancel screen. An unusual 19th-century timber pulpit by Teulon stands on a stone base, and 19th-century pews remain.

Monuments and Fittings

Several important monuments have been reset from the earlier church. In the tower stands a chest tomb with recumbent effigies of Sir George Huntly (died 1622) and his wife Eleanor Wynter. A Baroque pedimented tablet commemorates Robert Bridges (died 1722), also positioned in the tower.

Two fine monuments flank the west window. On the left is a monument to Edward Peach (died 1770) by Thomas Paty, featuring an urn and mourner figure with an obelisk background. On the right is a monument to Nathaniel Peach (died 1719) by Ricketts, with putti flanking a bust above a sarcophagus tablet, similarly set against an obelisk background.

Stained glass includes earliest windows probably by Saunders, possibly including the west and east windows. Windows in the south nave wall are by Preedy, Lavers and Barraud. Aisle windows contain clear glass with Teulon's decorative leading.

History and Setting

This church, described as the most restfully composed of Teulon's Cotswold churches, replaced an earlier parish church. The chancel arch and part of the north wall of the earlier building remain.