Description

SJ 40 SE CONDOVER C.P. STAPLETON

9/112 Church of St John the
- Baptist
13.6.58
GV II*

Parish church. Uncoursed sandstone and quartzite rubble with ashlar dressings,
machine tile roof with coped verges. Circa 1190-1210, re-modelled c.1790
with west tower of c.1840; restoration by Slater and Carpenter in 1867.
Nave and chancel in one with former undercroft beneath, west tower and north-
east vestry. Tower: 3 stepped stages with pointed angle quoins and voussoirs;
4 round-headed openings to belfry with embattled parapet; west window to
second stage, also round-headed, has similar door beneath. Nave: north
side has 2 original lancets to upper stage with broad blocked lancet and
lancet of 1867 to west; division from former undercroft marked by a chamfered
band below which are 3 narrow rectangular slits; flying buttress to centre
c.1867; south side: height of former undercroft again marked by a chamfered
band below which are a wide round-headed doorway and a narrow rectangular
slit to east; above to either side of door are 2 Gothic windows of 1867
with an original lancet to east. Chancel: south side has narrow pointed
priest's door (c.1280) and lancet above to east; 2 recessed windows at ground
level to east with spherical triangular tracery c.1867; one lancet on north
to east of gabled vestry, moved eastwards when the vestry and present east
wall (including the triple lancet window) were built in 1867. Interior: no
trace now remains of the undercroft (removed in 1786) except for the dispos-
ition of the windows; arch-braced roof to nave in 5 bays (1867), the eastern-
most truss supported on 2 stone shafts with foliated capitals; contemporary
trussed rafter roof with scissor bracing to chancel; west gallery with richly
carved and painted organ, also 1867; twin sedilia on south and piscina in
north wall date to C19 restoration, but the rectangular recess high up on
the south wall is probably a medieval piscina and presumably served the upper
level of the church; pointed-arched recesses in north and south walls at
west end of chancel are re-cut early C13 work, but their function is unclear;
round-headed doorway to tower with raised keystone and imposts (c.1790)
has nail-studded door; altar fronted by C17 decorative oak panelling and
flanked by 2 tall painted German candlesticks (c.1500), late C19 wall painting
to east wall; plain mid-C19 octagonal font is said to have come from the
Church of the Holy Trinity, Uppington (q.v. under Uppington C.P.); a piece
of embroidery hanging in a frame on the south wall is reputed to have been
worked by Mary Queen of Scots and a board on north wall commemorates the
repair of the church in 1790. Monument: wall memorial to Thomas Meyrick
(died 1778) in tower. The church was probably originally a dependent
chapelry of Condover (q.v. under Church of St Mary and St Andrew, Condover).
A motte (Scheduled Ancient Monument, County No.183) stands approximately
50m to south-east. B.o.E., p.293; D.H.S. Cranage, The Churches of
Shropshire, Part 6 (1903). Pp.509-13.

Listing NGR: SJ4707604502

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17541051

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

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