Description

SE 37 NE TOPCLIFFE CHURCH STREET
(west side)

5/35 Church of St Columba

20.6.66
GV II *

Church. C13 and C14, partly rebuilt in 1855 by G T Andrews.
Ashlar with graduated Westmorland slate roof. West tower, nave with south
porch and chancel under continuous roof. North aisle with vestry.
Decorated in style. West tower: 3 stages. Plinth, offset angle buttresses,
bands between stages. South face: 2nd stage, clockface in moulded surround.
Third stage: belfry opening of 2-lights with cusped tracery in pointed arch
with hoodmould. Similar to other sides. Corbelled eaves. Embattled
parapet with large corner pinnacles and smaller pinnacles to centre of each
side. West window, similar to belfry openings, with more elaborate tracery,
to first stage; quatrefoil in circular surround above. Nave: 3 bays, bays
divided by offset angle buttresses. 2 windows of 3 lights with Decorated
tracery in pointed arches with hoodmoulds. South porch, gabled with
pointed-arched doorway with hoodmould, stone coping. Inner board door.
North aisle similar, with 3-light pointed windows and similar to west
elevation. Chancel: 2 bays, bays divided by offset angle buttresses; left
window of 2 lights, with cusped tracery in pointed arch with hoodmould,
right bay has similar of 3 lights. East window: early C13, of 4-lights,
cusped Decorated tracery with four petal motifs in head, set in pointed arch
with hoodmould. East window to north aisle of 3-lights with Decorated
tracery in pointed arch with hoodmould. Gabled north vestry. Stone copings
and gable cross to east end. Interior: 3 bay C19 north arcade and single
similar arch to north of chancel; octagonal piers, moulded capitals, double
chamfered pointed arches with hoodmoulds. Chancel arch similar but with
round piers and leaf motif capitals. In chancel early C14 piscina and
sedilia, 4 niches with cusped pointed-arched heads. South side of chancel
has a window with glass by Burne-Jones 1857. South nave glass by Kempe
1893. Monuments: good brass to Thomas de Topcliffe 1362 and his wife 1391.

Listing NGR: SE3996576037

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17535965

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)