Description

Parish church; C13 nave and chancel, C14 tower; restored and extended in mid-C19.

MATERIALS: This church has flint walls, with limestone dressings to windows and doorways, and slate roofs.

PLAN: The church consists of a nave, chancel, west tower, north transept, north aisle and south porch.

EXTERIOR: The south porch is rendered, with a crenellated gable; the random flint walls of the church are otherwise exposed. The slated roofs are steeply pitched and the top of the nave and chancel walls show clearly that the roofs have been raised. The south side of the church has three two-light Y-tracery windows with hood moulds to the nave, and there are two similar windows to the chancel; these all date to the mid C19 restoration. The hood moulds are similar to that over the C13 piscina inside the chancel. There is also a priest's door in the south chancel wall with a simple pointed arch with cavetto mould and hood-mould over. The east window also has Y tracery and three lights. The north transept and north aisle have similar windows to those in the south elevation, as well as paired lancet windows. The C14 buttressed west tower has Y-tracery belfry lights and a two light early C15 west window; in the north-west corner is a narrow round headed arched doorway to the stairs.

INTERIOR: The interior largely dates from the mid C19th refurbishment funded by the Duke of Grafton. Early features include a late C13 piscina in the south east corner of the chancel with engaged shafts supporting a pointed trefoil arch and bar-tracery. The chancel arch also probably dates to the C13; this simple pointed arch has no capitals and pyramid stops to the jambs. The tower arch is probably C14 and has half-round responds and polygonal capitals. The arcade between the nave and C19 north aisle has two arches with slender central pier with a large square capital and two massive rectangular outer piers; a further wider arch opens from the nave into the north transept. The north aisle roof timbers are exposed, but the roofs of the nave and chancel have been ceiled and plastered.

On the south wall of the nave the arms of William III painted on boards are of c1695. The stained glass in the east window and south nave is early C20.

HISTORY: The Church of St Gregory originally consisted of a C13 nave and chancel only; the west tower was added in the C14. The church as it survives today was considerably modified in the C19, when it was restored and extended in two phases of work. The first of these took place in about 1840 and included the building of the north transept. The second, begun in 1863, seems to have been more comprehensive, and consisted of the addition of the north aisle and the extensive refurbishment of the interior; this work was undertaken at the expense of the fifth Duke of Grafton. At some time, either as part of the 1840 work or possibly earlier, the roof was raised. This is clearly visible both externally and in the north aisle; the interior may have been ceiled over and plastered at the same time.

Although the architect for the new additions is not recorded, it is possible that John Henry Hakewell FRIBA (1810-80), who designed the new parsonage house in 1861, also undertook the 1863 extension and refurbishment of the church. Hakewill was appointed to the Diocese of Ely and Norwich to inspect churches proposed for alteration or rebuilding, and was also employed on a number of churches and parsonage houses in Suffolk. He also worked on the restoration of churches in Wiltshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, and four of his original church designs are listed at Grade II.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
This church is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It has C13 origins and although it was extended and restored in the mid C19, some of its medieval fabric survives. The C14 tower also survives intact, and includes an unusual external entrance to the stairs.
* Despite C19 alterations and refurbishment, the interior retains some fine features including a C13 piscina in the chancel.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Gregory official website
• Wikidata Q26282636

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

• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)