Description

SP 39 NW WITHERLEY CHURCH LANE

8/127 (Ratcliffe Culey)

7.11.66 Church of All Saints

II*

Church. Early C14. Ashlar with stone verged slate roofs. West tower,
4-bay nave, 2-bay chancel. West tower of 3 stages with moulded plinth,
3 offsets and a plain parapet with moulded coping. Small recessed
octagonal spire with one tier of lucarnes consisting of quatrefoil
shaped openings (c.f. Church of St. Margaret, Stoke Golding, C.P.;
Church of St. Michael, Fenny Drayton, Witherley C.P.). Single-light
west window with ogee head and hood mould and convex, quarter round
moulded surround. The second stage has a quatrefoil opening to the
west and trefoil-headed windows to the north and south with hood
moulds. Single-light belfry openings with trefoiled heads. There are
buttresses at the bay divisions of the nave and chancel and angle
buttresses at the eastern corners. The 3-centred side windows are
mainly of 2 cinquefoil-headed lights with a single reticulation above;
the nave windows have scrolled hood moulds with block stops and the
chancel hollow-chamfered hood moulds terminating in carved heads. The
easternmost window of the nave on the south side differs from the
others in having 3 lights and Decorated tracery of a more ambitious
nature (c.f. north side of Church of St. Margaret, Stoke Golding C.P.)
and a convex quarter round moulded surround rather than chamfering; it
appears to have lit a chapel which occupied this part of the nave. The
chancel east window has 3 lights and reticulated tracery. Pointed
north and south nave doors, the former with convex quarter-round
moulded surround and scroll-moulded ogee hood terminating in a pair of
carved heads; the south doorway is similar but has no hood mould.
Interior: Pointed tower arch with an outer chamfered order and an
inner convex quarter round moulding springing from moulded imposts with
faceted bases terminating in carved heads. High pointed chancel arch
on engaged semi-octagonal columns with moulded capitals and bases. The
window rear-arches have hood moulds reflecting the style of their
external counterparts. High up in the west wall is a pointed window.
C19 king-post roofs over nave and chancel. Fixtures and fittings:
Plain octagonal stone font, possibly C14. In the south wall of the
east bay of the nave is an ogee headed piscina, evidence that this area
was occupied by a chapel. C19 octagonal pulpit on an octagonal
pedestal. C14 sedilia with multiple cusping. C18 altar rail with
turned balusters. Stained glass: east window of 1901 by Kempe; in the
reticulations of the chancel side windows are medleys of medieval
fragments. B.O.E. p.358.

Listing NGR: SP3267699416

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17540958

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)