Description

SE50SW SPROTBROUGH

7/136 Church of St. Mary
(Formerly listed as Church
5.6.68 of St Mary the Virgin).

GV I

Church. C13 and C14 with C15 and C16 alterations and additions. Rubble and ashlar
limestone, ashphalt roofs. West tower, 3-bay aisled nave with north and south porches,
2-bay chancel, north vestry. Tower: C14 lower part has chamfered plinth and diagonal,
offset buttresses flanking ogee-headed west door with hoodmould; quadrant-moulded
2-light window above with trefoil-headed loop over. Offsets below and above lozenge-
shaped clock. Perpendicular upper stage has paired, 2-light belfry openings with
cusped, blind panels beneath louvred upper lights, shared hoodmoulds. Blind tracery
to parapet with gargoyles and pinnacles. Nave: chamfered plinth; buttresses,
diagonal to west. South porch has timbered gable and stone roof; quadrant-moulded
doorway within has hoodmould. Aisle has square-headed, double-chamfered 3-light
windows, 4-light window on right; string course beneath embattled parapet. 4
clerestorey windows of 3 Tudor-arched lights in square-headed recesses; parapet,
as aisle, has pinnacle bases. North side similar: ashlar porch with gable plaque
dated 1630, quadrant-moulded, pointed arch to door within. Chancel: south priest's
door flanked by buttresses and by Y-tracery, double-cavetto-moulded windows with
hoodmoulds. West buttresses now built onto by aisle end walls. 2-storey north
vestry with 2-light mullioned window beneath pointed single light, shallow-pitched
north gable. Flanking 2-light windows to chancel, renewed. Angle buttresses flank
early C20, 4-light east window within jambs of C13 opening. Plain parapet with
copings, truncated east gable.

Interior: 3-bay north and south arcades with octagonal piers, moulded capitals and
double-chamfered, pointed arches; ½-round, north-east respond with early capital,
probably reused. Double-chamfered tower arch, similar chancel arch with ½-octagonal
responds to inner order, hoodmould. Cl3 sedilia, 3 seats divided by paired shafts
and with hoodmould, piscina to its east has hoodmould with head-carved stops;
straight-headed image niche in chancel north wall. C16 nave roof with moulded,
cambered tie beams and carved bosses, matching aisle roofs. Monuments: south aisle
chapel has late C13 effigy of knight in C14 cusped, ogee recess. Later female
effigy now with C20 canopy. Wall monument in north aisle to William Wrightson of
Cusworth jd1760). Chancel floor: fine brasses to William Fitzwilliam (1474) and
wife, also C18 and C19 slabs to Copley family. Incised alabaster table-tomb to
Philip Copley (d1577) and wife; wall monument to Leonellfis copley (d1776).
Furnishings: C20 octagonal pulpit reuses old panels and has C18 tester. C16 bench
ends. Unusual rood screen with medieval shafts and later Decorated-style tracery;
2 misericords in adjoining stalls. Jacobean communion rail with obelisks. C14
stone seat in chancel has traceried end panel and bearded caryatid beneath seat.
Some of the early C20 furnishings by Comper.

N. Pevsner, B.O.E., 1967 ed, pp496-497 and p648.

Listing NGR: SE5395802033

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Mary at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17530799

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

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)