Description

SO 4461 KINGSLAND CP LONGFORD (south side)

13/48 Church of St Michael

11.6.59

GV I

Parish church. Early C14, incorporating some C13 fragments, some C15 and
C16 additions. Chancel restored 1866-1868 by G F Bodley; organ chamber
added 1882-3 and tower restored 1924. Coursed rubble with ashlar dressings
and slate roofs. West tower, nave and aisles, north porch and adjoining
Volka chapel, south porch, chancel and north vestry. West tower: five stages,
C14 except top stage added in C15. Moulded plinth and crenellated parapet,
stepped angle buttresses with traceried panels on the outer faces. Stair
turret at north-west corner corbelled out in angles between wall and buttress
with a trefoil arch over carved heads. Top stage defined by row of corbels,
with a small single-light window with two-centred head on south and east
walls, the parapet has carved gargoyles. The fourth (belfry) stage has a
window of two trefoiled lights under a two-centred head to each wall. The
third stage windows are circular with octofoil cusping. Second stage has
a window of one trefoiled light in each wall except to the east where a semi-
circular headed doorway opens into the nave roof. First stage has a window
of two pointed lights. Ground stage has a window of two pointed lights under
a two-centred head with sunk-chamfered reveals in each external wall. Entrance
in north wall has moulded jambs and a segmental pointed head with cinquefoil
cusping. North aisle of five bays, with four circular windows having sexfoil
cusping to clerestory. North porch in bay to west of centre, with small Volka
chapel attached to east. Outer arch of porch has chamfered jambs, segmental
pointed arch and moulded label with defaced head stops. West wall has a window
of four cinquefoiled lights in a square head. North door has double chamfered
jambs and a three-sided head elaborately cusped. North window of Volka chapel
rectangular divided by transom, the lower part of three square lights with
octofoil cusping, the upper of six plain lights. Windows of aisle each of
two lights which are plain, trefoiled and cinquefoiled from west to east.
The eastern bay has a window of three cinquefoiled lights under a two-centred
head containing tracery. High in west wall (over C19 organ chamber) circular
window with cinquefoil cusping. South aisle of similar design as regards
windows. South porch is C15 and timber-framed with cambered tie-beam bearing
a central grotesque, king-post roof and decorative bargeboards. Nave: east
gable surmounted by a sanctuary bellcote. Chancel: angle buttresses to east
end. South wall of three bays, from west to east - windows of two cinquefoiled
lights under a two-centred head, a trefoiled lancet and of two trefoiled lights
with trefoil above under a two-centred arch. East window of three cinqufoiled
lights with tracery under two-centred arch. C14 north vestry, upper storey
added in C16. Gable to north with a segmental headed tomb recess at ground
level. Interior: entrance to Volka chapel from porch has chamfered jambs
and a round shouldered head. In south wall a tomb recess containing empty
stone coffin, back of recess has a window of four pointed lights opening into
aisle. Nave has a five-bay arcade to each aisle with two-centred arches of
two chamfered orders. The octagonal piers have hollows sunk on the diagonal
sides, moulded capitals and chamfered bases. Tower arch is segmental pointed
of two chamfered orders, the outer dying into the responds, the inner spring-
ing from head corbels. South aisle has piscina with trefoil head and adjoining
locker. Chancel arch segmental pointed of two chamfered orders, the inner
order springing from corbelling at a lower level, probably supporting a rood
loft. Entrance to north vestry has three-sided head with cusping. South
wall of chancel has a three-seat sedilia, the two eastern seats under a
wide semi-elliptical arch, and the western under a cinquefoiled two-centred
arch. Piscina to east of sedilia has a trefoil head. Roofs of aisles are
C19 boarded lean-tos. Nave roof of six bays, crown posts on arch-braced tie-
beams, with crown-plates. Common rafter couples each have collar with straight
arch braces. Chancel roof: a boarded barrel vault painted with "IHC" motif,
by Bodley. Fittings: pews all C19. Font of C14 has an octagonal bowl with
moulded soffit, plain stem and hollow chamfered base. Stained glass of C14
in east window containing numerous figures including Christ in Glory, Coronation
of the Virgin in two lights, various coats of arms and Tobias and the Angel
Raphael. Placed over altar in south aisle is a framed cartoon by Sir Frank
Brangwyn for a stained glass window of the Crucifixion. (RCHM, 3, pp 80 - 82;
BoE, p 204-6).

Listing NGR: SO4468561287

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17530168

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)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)