Church of St. Marcellus

Church of St. Marcellus

This is a church comprising a nave with a south porch and chancel, together with a large north aisle that is separately roofed. There is no tower; instead, a bellcote stands at the west end of the aisle for a single bell.

The masonry throughout is local uncoursed sandstone rubble, finished with flush or ribbon pointing. The walls are unbattered except for a small section at the northwest corner of the nave. The roof is covered in slate with red ridge tiles, coped gables to all parts except the porch, and carved crosses at all apexes.

The doors and most windows are products of late 19th-century restoration. Both the porch inner door and the vestry door have pointed arches. The porch outer opening features a large round-headed arch formed in irregular sandstone voussoirs; one of these voussoirs bears a primitive sundial hole with shallow incised lines. The restored windows generally are pairs of lights with a top quatrefoil in plate tracery. The east window has three lights in plate tracery beneath a label mould with ball foliage terminals; the centre light has a trefoil head and an ogee-shaped transom, while the side lights are simply pointed. To the south of the chancel are a small lancet and a much smaller window, approximately 10 by 40 centimetres, which is the remnant of a medieval low-side-window.

The bellcote is constructed in similar masonry to the main building, but the arch over the bell is in brickwork.

Interior

The nave, chancel, and north aisle all have collar beam roofs. The nave comprises five bays and the chancel three. The chancel arch is low and round-headed with simple impost mouldings. The nave and chancel floors are paved in red terracotta tiles with coloured decorative margins, more highly decorated in the sanctuary. There is one step up at the chancel arch and two steps to the sanctuary. The north aisle floor is of wood blocks. The aisle is separated from the chancel by a low pointed arch and from the nave by two similar arches on a circular column with simple abaci. Behind a pine screen at the east end of the aisle is a vestry.

The porch roof is of collar-tied common rafters and its floor is of slate flagstones. Benches stand on each side.

A single sedile is cut into the splay of the chancel south window; its seat continues as a step beneath the sill, though there is insufficient width to confirm two sedilia. An adjacent piscina was removed in 1897. The small window nearer to the chancel arch wall is the remnant of a low-side-window, with wide splayed jambs and a small seat; the recess extends down to floor level. These early features survive only as undecorated shapes beneath 19th-century plaster.

The high altar and reredos are of carved oak in Gothic style. The altar of the north aisle, positioned against the vestry screen, was brought from the redundant church at Yerbeston; it had previously been in a London church and bears marks of fire damage from the War. The organ was brought from a Yorkshire church and installed in 1962; it is by Albert Keates. The nave contains late 19th-century pine pews and a pine pulpit on a stone base with four steps.

The font stands beside the entrance. It is square with a simple roll-moulding on all edges and stands on a 19th-century pillar atop a fine and rather large 13th-century column base with flattened mouldings and voluted corner motifs.

Facing the chancel at the north side of the chancel arch is a fine high-relief carving of a priest's tonsured head, represented lying on a simply carved pillow with simple incised outlines of the two hands as if resting on the chest, palms inwards with thumbs out. The inscription around it is now scarcely legible but is said to be in early 15th-century lettering, commemorating Sir Philip.