Description

WORLINGWORTH CHURCH STREET
TM 26 NW
5/115 Church of St Mary
29.7.55
- I
Parish church. Medieval, restored 1866. Nave, chancel, west tower, south
porch. Flint rubble with stone dressings. Nave roof leaded, chancel
plaintiled. Mid C15 square tower, 23m high; 4-stage diagonal buttresses with
chequer flushwork; crenellated parapet, restored mid C20. Moulded west
doorway with shield-carved spandrels; above is a renewed 3-light window. 2-
light belfry openings. 4-bay nave, completed c.1478, with contemporary porch.
Both are enriched with various flushwork designs on plinth and buttresses.
Large 3-light windows. Good south doorway with 2 orders of shafts and many
continuous mouldings; original door. Moulded north doorway with one order of
shafts supporting a hoodmould; the jambs and arch are also carved with
fleurons, masks and beasts' heads; original door. Fine porch, the facade with
further flushwork designs and arched panelling above; moulded entrance arch,
the spandrels carved with St George and the dragon; empty canopied statue
niche; crenellated parapet with flushwork. Original roof with moulded
timbers. 3-bay chancel of c.1300, the 2-light side windows and Priest's
doorway substantially intact; 4-light east window with Geometric tracery. The
windows are hoodmoulded internally. Interior. Nave has a fine original 9-bay
double hammerbeam roof: pierced tracery above the lower hammerbeams and above
the collars; enriched cornice; the angels at the ends of the lower hammerbeams
are a mid C20 addition. Arched-braced chancel roof of 1866. Chancel has
intact angle piscina of c.1300 with a drop-sill sedilia adjacent; a further
piscina in the south-east nave. In north-east corner of nave is the roof loft
stair with original arched entrances above and below. C15 octagonal font on a
wide, 2-stepped base; bowl panels carved with Signs of the Evangelists and
shield-bearing angels; 4 lions against the stem, at the base of which is an
original inscription. Tall C15 font cover with crocketed and buttressed
canopy, much restored; it was re-painted and gilded in 1963. Fine and unusual
set of early C17 nave box pews, splaying outwards to west: carved ends with
knob finials and back-to-back consoles; a carved panel to the front of one
bench at the east end bears the date 1630. Early C17 carved hexagonal pulpit
with suspended tester; later wooden base and other alteration. Dado of C15
rood screen with 6 2-light traceried panels. Mid-late C19 chancel furnishings
including marble and stone reredos. Chancel contains 3 good wall monuments:
Sir John Major (1781); Dame Ann Henniker (1792); Elizabeth, Dowager Duchess of
Chandos (1813); for details see Pevsner. Several C17-C18 ledger slabs in
nave. Tracery of nave windows contains fragments of C15 glass. Small remains
of medieval wall painting on north nave wall; on south-east wall part of
another painting, showing a fleur-de-lys and crown. Framed Arms of George
III, c.1810, on north nave wall.

Listing NGR: TM2336468642

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17525532

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)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)