Church Of St George

Church of St George

A parish church originating in the 13th century with significant late 15th-century rebuilding and 18th-century alterations, plus minor 19th-century changes. The building is constructed of roughly coursed, squared stone or random rubble with ashlar dressings, ashlar to the tower and west end of the nave, and stone slate roof. It comprises a nave, chancel, and western tower.

The west facade features a three-stage tower clasped by the nave on each side. Angled buttresses flank the nave sides, with a moulded plinth. The tower has an angled buttress and a boarded door in two leaves with old iron hinges; a small door is cut into one leaf. The door surround is moulded with a four-centred arch and sunk spandrels beneath a hoodmould. Above this sits a three-light window with Perpendicular tracery and casement moulding, topped by a hoodmould. A string course separates this from a two-light mullioned window below with cushed heads to the lights and a hoodmould. Another string course with gargoyles at the corners supports a crenellated parapet with crocketed corner finials.

The south side has an angle buttress at the corner with a moulded plinth, a two-light window with casement moulding and reticulated tracery, and a wide buttress. The east side has no plinth but features a two-light window with Y tracery and an iron opening light replacing a former doorway. Where ashlar masonry stops to the east there is a blind lancet and a three-light window with Perpendicular tracery and casement moulding on the outside, fitted with an iron opening light. A square-set buttress stands just beyond the line of the east gable to the nave. The gabled parapet to the west end has a tower with angled buttresses, a dripmould over the roof, a lancet, and a string course; above this is detailing as on the west end but with two lead chutes to drain the roof.

The chancel is slightly set back from the nave and has two two-light Perpendicular windows with deep chamfers and flat heads. Between these windows is a boarded door with a four-centred arch, panelled spandrels, and a hoodmould. An angled buttress supports the chancel, which has a parapet gable with a cross on its apex. The east end has angled buttresses and a three-light Perpendicular window with deep chamfer and a hoodmould with circular stops. A headstone is set against the wall below.

On the north elevation, the chancel has a plinth and two windows matching the south side. The nave has a buttress as on the south, a plinth, and a three-light Perpendicular window with casement moulding offset to the wall just below the eaves. Beyond this is another buttress, followed by a two-light window with Y tracery with a lean-to cover to a boiler room below and a stove-pipe flue. Further east is another buttress and a two-light window with reticulated tracery and an aisled buttress. The tower above matches the south side.

Interior: The tower is supported by two octagonal piers with moulded bases and caps. Asymmetrical arches span the aisles, creating a three-arch screen to the nave proper. The nave is wide with an elliptical chancel arch flanked by Roman Doric pilasters with moulded heads and a plain keystone; panelling on each side continues with further pilasters at the corners. Above this is an exposed gable truss with close studding below the collar, a king strut and feather bracing above. Tie-beam trusses with collars and double angle struts support the roof; one truss has an inserted collar. Two pairs of butt purlins with windbraces are present; the plaster ceiling has been removed, probably in the 19th century. A tomb recess in the north wall has a foiled head and a foliate cross slab below.

The chancel contains a door recess on the north side, probably for rood stairs, and a piscina. Seventeenth-century communion rails with turned balusters and a moulded rail are present. The roof above is braced with collar rafters and ashlar pieces, which was at one time plastered. A wine-glass pulpit has fielded panelling to the sides with a wide reading shelf and an octagonal sounding board over with a panelled underside, projecting corners, and a moulded edge. A semi-octagonal reading desk below is made from 15th-century panelling. Pews, probably 17th-century, have plain ends and moulded tops; one panelled pew, probably early 19th-century, is a box pew with seats and backs faced in cloth. An octagonal stone font has blind arcading to the stem and bowl. Two chests are present, one leather-covered and one with iron straps, along with two hatchments. A marble wall monument to Richard Tracy dates to 1735 with Ionic columns and gadrooning below; another wall monument dates to 1791. Some medieval glass has been reset in the east window.

The church was partly rebuilt around 1475 for William Whitchurch, Abbot of Hailes, as referred to in a contemporary inscription in the east window. The font dates to 1858 for W. Edwards. The tomb recess in the nave is 19th-century.