Church Of St Barnabas

The Church of St Barnabas is a parish church dating to 1864, situated in Snowshill village. It is constructed of well-squared, coursed stone, approaching ashlar, with a stone-slate roof. The church comprises a west tower, nave, chancel, south porch, and vestry.

Architecturally, the church displays a Gothic Revival style. All hoodmoulds are characterised by uncarved block stops. A plinth and moulded string course run at window sill level throughout the building. The south facade features a three-stage tower with square-set corner buttresses, a wide, deep lancet window, and stone louvres. The nave has two-light windows with trefoil heads and quatrefoils above, each complemented by a hoodmould. The porch walls incorporate buttresses, and the porch itself has wire doors leading up one step, an arched opening with a hoodmould, and a parapet gable with a cross at the apex. The chancel is slightly set back, with two lancets having trefoil heads and a hoodmould. The east elevation includes a three-light window similar in design to those on the nave. The vestry projects from the east end of the nave, featuring an octagonal stone chimney and a gable with string steps leading to two lancets under a conjoined hoodmould. The north elevation is broadly similar to the south. The west elevation of the tower mirrors the south facade, with a two-light window similar to that of the nave, and a circular clock face situated between the lancets.

The interior features rendered walls, with a moulded string at window sill level. The nave incorporates a wide chancel arch, with an inner section featuring moulded, corbelled capitals and an ovolo moulding to the tower arch. The roof is supported by arch-braced collar trusses rising from corbels, with exposed rafters and planking. A simple communion rail sits on iron supports, and a semi-octagonal pulpit is present with Jacobean-style panelling on a 20th-century base. A 15th-century octagonal stone font is also located within the church, displaying quatrefoils on the bowl and blind arcading on the stem.

The church forms a group with Manor Farm Cottage, Rose Cottage, and the Old Shop. The porch may have been added after 1879, as it was not mentioned in Kelly’s Directory of that year. Stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops are present.