Church of St Michael

Church of St Michael

This parish church was rebuilt in 1871, incorporating extensive carved stonework from the late 12th-century church that previously stood on the site. It was designed by Perkin and Son in neo-Romanesque style, with stone sculpture by Charles Mawer and wood carving by William Matthews, all craftsmen from Leeds.

The church is built of Hildenley limestone ashlar with a graduated Westmorland slate roof. The plan comprises a four-bay nave with an open north porch and bell-cote to the west gable, a two-bay chancel, and a single-bay vestry and organ chamber to the south.

Exterior

The nave and chancel feature a moulded continuous plinth. Round-headed windows have round-billet hood-moulds that continue as an impost stringcourse, broken by flat buttresses with roll-moulded angles. The capitals of the buttresses on the north and south walls are linked by corbel tables incorporating approximately 100 individually carved corbels in neo-Romanesque style, depicting beasts, angels, human caricatures and other forms. The west end has two windows with an oculus above and a further corbel table supporting the double-arched bell-cote. The east end displays three round-headed lancets with an oculus above.

The south porch outer doorway is believed to have originally been the church's north door. It is round-arched with three rings of voussoirs, the outer forming a frieze of shallow carvings with Anglo-Scandinavian influence. The two inner rings consist of chevrons, with the middle ring mainly being Victorian reproduction. The doorjambs carry shallow figuratively-carved panels on two faces, with five of the 15 blocks being original and the remainder high-quality Victorian reproductions.

Interior

The south porch roof is supported by arcaded-corbel tables originally external to the medieval chancel. These are elaborately carved with corbels in the form of heads or figures, with additional heads set into the soffits of the arches. The spandrels to the arcades also feature carved decoration. Both corbel tables are thought to be mainly original, though the east side includes some Victorian repair and replacement.

The church doorway was originally the medieval south door. It is round-arched with two arch rings of voussoirs, both figuratively carved. The inner ring of 11 voussoirs features a continuous vine scroll incorporating a stag or goat in the foliage. The outer ring of 16 voussoirs displays figurative carvings, mainly heads and beasts. The doorjambs are figuratively carved, with 7 of the 12 stones being original.

Above the doorway is a further set of figurative carvings including two stones depicting the Adoration of the Magi and seven stones forming part of a series depicting the Labours of the Months. These shallow relief carvings are thought to be late 12th-century but display pre-conquest Anglo-Saxon stylistic features.

In the nave, wall-plates are supported by 32 individually carved corbels featuring stylised heads and beasts, reused from the exterior of the 12th-century church nave. Other carved heads reused as stops, such as those to the carved arch ring framing the north door, also appear to be medieval, although other internal decoration such as the billet hood-moulds and nook shafts to the window reveals are Victorian. With some elements, such as the continuous running scroll frieze forming a high dado, it is difficult to separate original 12th-century work from Victorian repair.

The chancel arch with its beak-head and chevron decoration is Victorian, although its design was taken from a 12th-century voussoir found during the rebuilding. Six of the eight elaborately carved cushion capitals supporting the chancel arch are Norman and are firmly dated stylistically to the 1160s, with the two Victorian reproductions being of high quality.

In the chancel, wall-plates are supported by 12th-century arcaded-corbel tables similar to those within the porch, complete with carved heads placed in the soffits of the arches. Within the sanctuary stands a medieval piscina supported on a carved Norman pillar. The arch to the organ chamber is supported on further elaborately carved cushion capitals dated to the 12th-century. Further 12th-century sculpture is believed to be concealed by the organ case.

Fittings and Stained Glass

Apart from the piscina, all fittings are Victorian or later. The oak altar rails and pulpit are elaborately carved in Romanesque style, as is the Caen stone and alabaster font. Wall panelling to dado level within the nave is gothic, as are the pews with carved end panels. The organ case is by Temple Moore and was a later addition to the church, unfortunately obscuring some significant 12th-century sculpture. It is also gothic with painted and gilded decoration using a palette similar to that employed for the simple ring-shaped candelabras within the nave. Encaustic floor tiling is by Goodwin of Hereford. Some windows have figurative designed stained glass, some have complex geometric designs, and some are plainer with coloured margin glazing. The stained glass to the sides of the chancel is by Barnett & Son of Leith, and the east windows are by Heaton, Butler and Bayne of London. Memorials include a Romanesque tablet in the chancel to Hugo Meynell Ingram, patron of the rebuilding who died just before the new church was opened, and a First World War memorial in the nave in the form of a triptych listing both the fallen and those who served and returned.