Description

TUNSTALL CHURCH LANE SD 67 SW

5/181 Church of St. John the Baptist 4-10-1967 GV I

Church, c.1415 with some C13th remains and C16th alterations, restored 1907. Sandstone rubble with slate roof. Comprises a west tower, a nave and chancel under a continuous roof, north and south aisles, and a 2-storey south porch. The tower has diagonal buttresses and an embattled parapet. The bell openings are of 2 trefoiled lights with flat heads and hoods. Above each opening, above a weathered set-back, is a carved tablet of an angel holding a shield. The west window is of 3 cusped lights under a pointed head with Perpendicular tracery. The west door has a hollow-chamfered surround with pointed head and hood. The north aisle has an embattled parapet and 3 windows of 2 trefoiled lights under a pointed head with quatrefoil. To the right is a blocked doorway with pointed head. To the left is a C19th vestry. The south aisle has an embattled parapet and is of 4 bays. The left-hand window is similar to those of the north aisle. The 2nd bay has a window of 3 trefoiled lights under a pointed head with Perpendicular tracery. The window to the 3rd bay appears to be later and has 3 cusped lights under a segmental head. The 4th window is C16th and has 3 round-headed lights under an elliptical head. To the left of the 4th bay is a chamfered priest's doorway with pointed head. The 2-storey porch has an embattled parapet and a moulded pointed doorway. Above the door is an empty niche, now with a sundial plate. Above is some blind tracery, and above that a one-light window. The east window of the north aisle is similar to those of its north wall. The south aisle east window has 3 tall slightly pointed lights. The main east window is of 3 lights with a flat head with hood cutting across earlier tracery. Interior has 4-bay nave arcade with pointed arches and octagonal piers with moulded capitals. The west respond of the north aisle has some stiff-leaf foliage in the capital; the east respond has carved spirals. The chancel has arches to both north and south, both of which appear to be restorations. The roof is of 1907 and has tie beams with curved queen struts. The screens to the chancel and south chapel are of oak with tracery decoration and appear to be by Austin and Paley. A Roman votive stone is re-used as part of the inner jamb of a window in the north aisle. In the south wall of the chapel is a recess with, segmental arch, containing the mutilated effigy of Sir Thomas Tunstall. On each side of the east window are angel brackets. The east window contains Flemish glass. The outer lights, of the Madonna and child and of St. Anthony, are Cl5th. The central light is C16th and shows the Lord giving the keys to St. Peter. Under the tower arch is a C18th oval marble font on sandstone baluster base. The numerous wall tablets include memorials to the Fenwick family. The church was attended by the Bronte sisters while at the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge and appears as Brocklebridge Church in Jane Eyre.

Listing NGR: SD6141473924

External Links

• St John the Baptist's Church, Tunstall at Wikipedia
• St John the Baptist's Church, Tunstall official website
• Wikidata Q7593738

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

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living