St Mary's Parish Church, Nercwys, Flintshire

History

Late C15/early C16 Perpendicular church with earlier, perhaps late Romanesque Tower. S transept added to an aisless nave in C16/17. Remodelled in 1847 by Thomas Jones of Chester who added the N transept, porch and an altar recess. Further extended and remodelled by J. Oldrid Scott of London 1882-4 in Tudor-Gothic style, at a cost of #2,200. During this phase the N arcade was
added and the chancel enlarged.

Exterior

Roughly cruciform in plan with squat W tower and irregular transepts. Of snecked rubble throughout with sandstone detailing. Nave and chancel continuously roofed, steeply pitched
and of slate, with moulded tile ridge, and central wooden cross. Octagonal chimney to nave S side with simple moulded capping. S porch roofed as before with decorative tiled ridge. Plain coped
and kneelered gable with carved stone crucifix at apex. Pointed- arched entrance, chamfered and with recessed boarded door with decorative iron-work. Simple cusped lights to E and W faces.

Nave, S side with plain C19 Y-tracery window to L of porch with simple label. To R of porch a triple-light early C16 Tudor-arched window with cusped lights. Moulded label, returned and stopped with primitive carved heads. Set back in the corner between the porch E wall and the nave, a low boiler house with shallow-pitched coped and kneelered roof. Nave, N side: a pair of coped, gabled dormer windows to the N aisle in a shallow-pitched extension to the nave roof. Triple lancet windows.
Chancel with a triple-light window to N and S, cusped, and with moulded and returned Tudor-arched labels. E gable end coped and kneelered with crucifix at apex. 5-light late Perpendicular style
E window with segmental head and simply moulded and returned label. Moulded cill-course, returned around N and S sides.

S transept essentially C16/17 though upper part rebuilt in 1847 intervention. Simple 3-light Tudor-arched S window with moulded and returned label. Gable as before. N transept with triple-light traceried window in Decorated style. Cusped ogee lights and paired, cusped mouchettes. Label returned and stopped with carved heads. Plain chamfered entrance to the E face with shouldered arch and recessed, boarded and studded door. To the L a 2-light Y-tracery window.
The tower has a battered base with a plain string-course. Square lights to first floor N and S faces. On the ground floor, S face, a double lancet with transom by Scott. Inscription stones set into W face, one recording repairs to the tower in 1723, the other recording the restoration under Scott. Shingle spire with bell dormers to each face and a weather-vane of decorative iron-work dated 1866.

Interior

Interior: Within the porch, several sections of C13/14 carved stone sepulchral slabs. Round-arched S entrance, chamfered and stopped with early C17 heavily studded boarded door. Moulded frame with flat capitals at springing and central pendentive.

Nave; Roof of 9 bays with arched-braced collar trusses and 2 tiers of cusped windbraces. This extended eastwards by Scott into the chancel, copying the original. Some (repositioned) mid C18 fielded dado panelling to S wall, a number with contemporary painted heraldic charges. Round-headed Norman or transitional tower arch with plain voussoirs. Similar doorway above, chamfered and stopped. Within the ground floor of the tower, the baptistry. Repositioned C17 and C18 dado panelling and C18 altar rails. 3 primitive C17 benches. Octagonal font by Scott with moulded base and shield motifs to each face.

2 bay N arcade, continued a further bay to the E to give access to the N transept. Octagonal piers with moulded bases and capitals and round chamfered arches to arcade. Repositioned dado panelling as before. Wide splayed dormers with highly-cusped main roof members. N transept with pointed arch and dado panelling to E wall. 1847 wooden geometrical ceiling. Perpendicular screen by Scott. S transept: arched entrance and dado panelling as before. Modern organ.

Chancel with Perpendicular style stalls by Scott and Gothic tiled floor. E window with glass by Burlison and Grylls 1882, though incorporating some earlier work, elements of which can be dated heraldically to 1483-5 (Richard III). Sedilia (S wall) made up of elements of the late C15/early C16 Rood screen by Scott. Very fine, with canopied niches and pinnacled buttresses and vine-scroll decoration to the Rood beam. C19 polychromy. On the N wall a marble wall-monument to Robert Roberts, 1705. Memorial slab flanked by Corinthian pilasters. Shaped entablature with central urn
flanked by heraldic shields. To the R, similar, smaller wall monument to Richard Jones, 1716.

Reasons for Listing

Graded II* as a late Medieval church with earlier origins and with interesting C19 alterations and additions.

External Links

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