Description

SJ 3514 ALBERBURY WITH ALBERBURY
CARDESTON C.P.
12/12 Church of St Michael
13.6.58 and All Angels (formerly
listed as Church of St
Michael and All Angels
and Fitzwarine Tower)

GV II*

Parish church. Nave probably C13, tower probably late C12 and c.1300, and
south aisle (Loton Chapel) of c.1320-30; chancel largely rebuilt in 1845-6,
west and south-west walls of nave rebuilt in 1846-7; whole restored by
Mr Lloyd Oswell of Shrewsbury in 1902-3. Squared and coursed red sandstone
with red sandstone dressings, tower of coursed Alberbury breccia with
red sandstone dressings; chancel and west wall of nave of snecked dressed
red sandstone and south-west wall of nave of red sandstone ashlar; plain
tile roofs. Nave, 4-bay chancel (in a lancet style), 3-bay south aisle
(Loton Chapel), tower to north of nave and vestry to north of chancel.
Tower: 4 stage; chamfered plinth, 2 string courses to first and second
stages, clasping buttreses to top of second stage, and central pilaster
buttress to north up to the bottom of the second stage; parapet to north
with chamfered coping and central gargoyle, and saddleback roof with
weathervane and parapeted gables with miniature gabled lucarnes and
gabled finials; top stage has 2-light openings in gables with altered
Y-tracery and chamfered reveals; belfry openings with 2 trefoil-headed
lights, Y-tracery, and double-chamfered reveals; chamfered lancets and
dormer stage, cinquefoil-headed to second stage; arched doorway to east
has C19 nail-studded boarded door with strap hinges; clock below belfry
opening to east. Nave: chamfered and moulded plinth, buttresses with
chamfered offsets; diagonal flying buttress to south-west with triple
chamfered segmental ribs and 2 offsets, and parapeted gable end to west
with shaped and gabled kneelers, miniature lucarnes and cross at apex;
south side: central C19 window with 2 trefoil-headed lights, quatrefoiled-
circle in tracery, chamfered reveals, and hoodmould with curved foliage
stops, and dated;"AD/1847", C19 entrance to right has 2 orders of
shafts with moulded bases and capitals, moulded arch, hoodmould with
uncarved circular stops, and C19 nail-studded boarded door with elaborate
strap hinges; west end: buttresses flanking C19 five-light window with
intersecting tracery, 7-part rose window in apex, chamfered and moulded
reveals, and hoodmould; C19 vesicashaped window in apex of gable with
flowing tracery; north side: 4 unevenly-spaced bays, 2 central C19 three-
light windows with intersecting tracery and double-chamfered reveals;
C19 left-hand window with 2 trefoil-headed lights, quatrefoiled circle
in tracery at apex, double-chamfered reveals, and hoodmould with carved
stops; blocked north door to right has moulded arch and broach stops but
no capitals, and 2 probably reset carved heads flanking arch at apex level
in wall above. Loton Chapel: rainwater head dated:"A.P/1836"; double
cavetto-moulded plinth and buttresses with chamfered offset trefoil-panelled
gablets with carved heads, diagonal buttresses at corners; parapeted gable
ends with trefoil-panelled gabled kneelers, miniature lucarnes, and cross
at apexes; central 3-light window with intersecting tracery and chamfered
reveals; right-hand window with 3 trefoil-headed lights, that in centre
depresed, radial Decorated tracery with much cusping, moulded reveals,
and hoodmould with carved stops; moulded-arched doorway to left with
hoodmould and carved stops, and nail-studded boarded door; large blocked
east window (blocked by 1789) with moulded reveals, and hoodmould with
carved stops; niche in gable above with cinquefoiled gabled head and hoodmould
with carved stops; convex-sided triangular west window high up with
cusped tracery including a concave triangle, and moulded reveals,moulded
ledge and 2 brackets below to left. Chancel: moulded plinth, buttresses
with chamfered offsets, angle buttresses to east, chamfered eaves, and
parapeted gable end to east with chamfered kneelers and cross at apex;
chamfered lancets; east end has central buttress with pair of flanking
round-arched lancets, and circular window in gable above with keyed moulded
surround. Vestry: square plan; parapeted gables with chamfered coping,
and stack on apex to front with trefoil-gabled opening to each face;
cinquefoil-headed lancet to north with chamfered reveals; short link to
chancel has chamfered lancet to east and chamfered Caernavon-arched boarded
doorway to west.

INTERIOR: 3-bay Loton Chapel arcade has quatrefoil
section piers with moulded bases and capitals, double chamfered arches,
and hoodmoulds; C14 chancel arch with double chamfer dying into responds;
nave roof: 2:1:5:1 bays, east to west, with moulded arch-braced collars
and v-struts, 4 moulded purlins each side with cusped windbraces forming
5 tiers of quatrefoil panels; no windbraces to 2 western bays, and
hammerbeam truss to east; 4-bay chancel roof of double hammerbeam type
with cusped v-struts, and quatrefoil panels between purlins; 4-bay roof
to Loton Chapel has chamfered arch-braced collars with moulded'bosses'
in centre, and 2 pairs of purlins with windbraces; late C19 embellishments
include carved frieze with fleurons, tie-beams with carved brackets
resting on angels with pendants; chancel with double-chamfered arched
vestry doorway and aumbry with chamfered Caernarvon arch, and chamfered
window reveals; north wall of nave set back to tower with 2 stone corbels
to support roof; image brackets, in north wall between first and second
windows from west, to right of chancel arch, and to left of arcade; chapel
with hoodmould of blocked east window, trefoiled ogee-headed arched
piscina with bowl, and cinquefoiled moulded-arched tomb recess with
ballflower ornament. Fittings: late C19 wooden reredos against east wall
with 2 round arches flanking taller pointed arch,triple shafts with
moulded bases and capitals, dogtooth decoration, and centre arch of
2 lights with Geometrical-style tracery; walls and window reveals with
painted patterns and inscriptions, other chancel windows with painted
inscriptions on soffits ; late C19 communion rails, trefoil-arched with
circular columns; C19 choir stalls; octagonal stone pulpit of 1883, presented
by Lady Charlotte Lyster with carved square panels depicting lamb and flag,
flowers, angel, pelican etc., carved foliage trail frieze, moulded cornice,
and square base; c.1883 octagonal stone font with 2 steps to moulded base,
shafts, panels with trefoils in circles, and quatrefoil frieze; reused
C17 panelling (possibly from former pews) in nave pews of 1871, wainscot
panelling, and organ screen at west end; Gothic pews dated 1840 formerly
in the Loton Chapel were not evident at time of survey (June 1985);
C17 chest; late C19 panelling in chapel with embossed brass (?) Leighton
memorial plaques. Stained glass: fragments of C14 stained glass in south
windows of Loton Chapel; chancel glass of 1853; fine memorial window in
Loton chapel to Sir Balwin Leighton (d.1897) by Mrs Sotheby [who also
designed the war memorial (qv)]in the style of The Studio. 3 hatchments
in nave and 4 in chancel. Monuments: large collection of mainly late C18 and
early C19 tablets; especially fine those to Richard Lyster (d.1691) of
Rowton, baroque with putti flanking inscription (removed from old St
Chad's Church, Shrewsbury in 1788); to Dorothy Leighton (d.1688) of
Wattlesborough with swagged panel; Sir Richard Lyster (d.1766) of Rowton,
rococco memorial by Van der Hagen with putti flanking urn; tablet to
Richard Lyster (d.1807) with mourning female figure by tomb; 2 mid-C19
brass plates in chapel. There has been a church on the site since at
least 1020, originally collegiate but becoming parochial in the C13 and
subject to Alberbury Priory[White Abbey (qv)]. The church stands close
to the remains of Alberbury Castle (qv). V.C.H., Vol VIII, pp. 217-19;
B.O.E., pp. 53-4; D. H. S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches
of Shropshire, part 6, pp. 517-23; Kelly's Directory of Shropshire, p. 19;
County S.M.R,, No. 1318 5/6.

Listing NGR: SJ3586214443

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17540179

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

• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)