Description

PITCHFORD C.P. PITCHFORD SJ 5204 - 5304 12/127 Church of 13.6.58 St Michael GV I

Parish church. C12 and C13, east wall rebuilt in 1719, vestry added in 1819 and whole restored in 1910. Coursed red sandstone rubble with some herringbone work and red and grey sandstone ashlar dressings; stone slate roof over nave and plain tile roof over chancel. Nave and chancel in one with south vestry. Chancel: chamfered plinth, high plinth to west, chamfered projecting eaves; pair of probably C17 raking buttresses to north, that to north-east has c.1910 stack rising from top with square lower part chamfered to octagonal shaft with moulded cap; west end probably rebuilt in C13 or C14 has flanking buttresses with chamfered offsets and parapeted gable; weatherboarded square west bellcote with louvred openings and pyramidal stone slate cap with finial; south side: chamfered lancets to left and right; C14 window off-centre to right with 2 trefoil-headed lights, quatrefoil in tracery, moulded reveals, and hoodmould; C13 doorway off-centre to left with continuously-moulded arch and c.1910 nail-studded boarded door with strap hinges; attached to wall to right of C14 window is a C13 or C14 coffin slab with a raised cross and a memorial slab to Thomas Corfead, died 11th August 1754, aged 58; west end: restored C14 window with 2 trefoil-headed lights, quatrefoil in tracery, chamfered reveals, and returned hoodmould; north side: 2 chamfered lancets to left; blocked C13 doorway to right with continuously-moulded arch, and inserted C19 two-light window with Y-tracery and reset moulding in wall beneath; herringbone masonry to centre of wall and blocked small round-arched C12 window. Chancel: chamfered plinth and chamfered projecting eaves; south side: 2 chamfered lancets to right; wall slightly projecting to left has C14 window with 2 trefoil-headed lights, quatrefoil in tracery, and chamfered reveals; weathered C18 memorial tablet attached to wall at right; north side: chamfered lancet to right; C12 round-arched doorway to left with c.1910 nail-studded boarded door; east end: 1719; round-topped plinth flanking pilaster strips, and parapeted gable end with shaped kneelers and string course half way up; stepped triple chamfered lancets of 1819 with moulded cill, and pair-of small reset carved heads and probably uncarved stones flanking at top. Vestry: 1819; barred chamfered-arched window to front with reset crudely carved head in gable end above. Interior: c.1910 roof of 6 bays with billet-decorated tie-beams, octagonal crown posts with moulded bases and capitals, arch-braced collars, moulded frieze and ashlar pieces. Fittings: piscina with moulded trefoiled-arch; probably C13 font with concave base, plain bowl with moulded top, and C19 cover; reset medieval patterned tiles in sanctuary; C17 octagonal wooden pulpit with arabesque-carved panels, guilloche frieze, back board with lozenges and guilloche bands, and tester with guilloche ornament, cornice and pendants; C17 readers desk with guilloche ornament and finials; early C19 box pews with finials; c.1910 choir stalls, possibly incorporating C17 Panelling,and front rails with turned balusters; late C17 communion rails with alternating turned and lozenge-section balusters,and-finials reredos with reused C16 linenfold panelling, reused C17 circular panels with guillosh bands flanking centre and reused probably C15 pierced cresting, probably from former screen; traceried panel in north wall of nave; early C19 Gothick organ; Monuments: John de Pitchford (died 1285), 7 foot wooden effigy of cross-legged knight drawing sword on 7-bay trefoil-arcaded base with shields; 5 incised alabaster slabs commemorating couples of the Pitchford family dated 1529, 1534, 1578 and 1587, tablet to Thomas Otley, died 22 January 1807 aged 91 with shield below and urn above cornice; 5 hatchments. The roof was ceiled and plated in 1819 and the reredos was probably assembled from its various older parts at the same time. This small church is graded I for its surviving C12 fabric and the medieval memorials. It forms part of a close group including Pitchford Hall (qv). V.C.H.,Vol VIII, p.123; B.O.E., p.227; D. H. S. Cranage, An Architectral Account of the Churches of ,Shropshire, Vol 6, pp.501-5.

Listing NGR: SJ5275004286

External Links

• Wikidata Q17529641

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Recommended Books

• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy