Church of St Bridget

Church of St Bridget

The church consists of a nave and chancel, with a 19th-century north transept and vestry added. It is built in local axe-dressed and coursed limestone masonry with freestone dressings, roofed in slate with a tile ridge. Some of the early masonry is of a rubble character, while the 19th-century additions use finer-jointed but uncoursed work that maintains the same general appearance. The gables are coped with cross-finials at the north and east ends and a bellcote at the west. Large rough buttresses occur at the corners of the nave and chancel, with bulky plain buttresses on the 19th-century north transept; the north-east corner has a smaller clasping buttress. A roughly constructed shed for the heating basement stands on the north-east corner, and an ashlar chimney with moulded base and cornice rises above the vestry.

The east window is Perpendicular, of five lights, with a label moulding terminating in weather-worn heads. To the south of the chancel is a four-light window with segmental heads; its lintel bears the inscription "Sr John Conway Kngt 1636". To the south of the nave is a trefoil-headed medieval lancet.

The south doorway is chamfered and pointed with a slightly obtuse angle, featuring a simple label mould that has lost any original terminals. The jamb stones bear numbers roughly carved, inside or outside, indicating some rebuild. The door itself is modern, though the wrought iron hinges may be reused.

The remaining openings are from the 19th-century restoration. Pairs of lancets occur to north and south of the nave. The west front, rebuilt in the 19th century, is a quasi-Early English composition with a doorway beneath a stilted pointed arch with deeply cut mouldings on nook columns; above this are a pair of lancets and a quatrefoil, then a single-light bellcote. The 19th-century additions contain a pair of lancets and a quatrefoil to the north of the transept, and trefoil-headed single lights to the north and east of the vestry. The vestry north door is pointed. The porch has a timber front with a pair of quatrefoil windows on each side.

Interior and Fittings

The church is entered either through the west door or via the south porch, which is stone-flagged and furnished with side benches. Both doorways comprise two orders: a pointed arch with a segmental arch to the rear. The nave is broad and fully open to the chancel, which is also broad but short, paved in limestone flags. Two ranges of plain open pews with carved finials at newels stand throughout. A 19th-century arch to the left is broad, of two orders, with a label mould featuring conventional head terminals.

The font at the south-west corner was donated in 1863; ancient cross fragments stand in the same corner.

The nave roof spans four bays with braced collar beams. The truss nearest the chancel has bracing in full arch form with short hammer beams terminating in carved angels. The mid-truss tie beam carries lettering, apparently reading "ER15 1579 dH WH" (though 1579 was not the 15th year of Elizabeth's reign). The lettering is gilded, as is a gilded rose boss beneath. Three purlins run along each side with cusped wind braces, and the trimming of a former louvre or bell turret marks the centre.

One step rises to the chancel, which has no screen—the change marked only by a slight narrowing and separate roof construction. This roof is similarly constructed but spans two bays with two purlins each side. Paving combines black and red quarry tiles with encaustic tiles. The choir features oak Gothic stalls incorporating prayer desks on each side, with fronts carved with similar blind tracery to the reredos and east wall panelling. The lectern stands at left and the octagonal pulpit at right, the latter on a moulded timber foot with brattishing and timber steps.

East wall panelling returns approximately 2 metres on each side, raised at the centre as a reredos with pierced decorative border and vine trail, surmounted by a cross. The Communion rails have paired standards with linking tracery. A small aumbry is dated 1982. The arch at left enclosing the organ resembles that of the north transept but features crowned and mitred head terminals.

All windows contain plain glass except the east window, which is the dominant interior feature. This window is considered of two dates: the tracery lights given by Archdeacon Tubney in 1430 represent the 12 apostles, each carrying a clause of the Creed; the main lights contain a Jesse with the Virgin and Child centrally at top, given by Archdeacon Conwy in 1508–31. The lowest part now consists of jumbled medieval glass reportedly rediscovered during 19th-century restoration work.

Monuments and Memorials

Early ledger stones occur in the nave paving, and 17th-century slabs to members of the Mostyn family are said to occupy the chancel. Close to the pulpit stands a floriated 15th-century tombstone of two brothers, Robert and H----, early members of the Hughes family, interred in the chancel; the inscriptions are no longer legible. A brass plate at the south of the chancel commemorates other Hughes family members interred in the churchyard, and a mosaic-bordered memorial in the same location commemorates G E R Thomas, died 1916. Two brass plates on the north wall of the nave commemorate the fallen of the two World Wars.