Description

NORTH NIBLEY CHURCH LANE
ST 7396
(north side)
8/98 Church of St. Martin
30.6.61
GV II*

Parish church. C15; tower dated T.T. 1632; alterations and
restoraton of 1836; chancel of 1859 by J.L. Pearson; further
restoration of 1873 also by Pearson. Ashlar and random rubble
limestone; coursed rubble marlstone; stone slate roof, lead to
nave. Nave with south aisle; west tower, north porch and chancel
with north vestry and organ loft. Moulded C19 round-arched north
doorway with door having Gothic strapping. C19 parapet-gabled
porch with moulded pointed arch having attached column shafts; C19
iron gates; arched braced collar-truss porch roof. Rebuilt north
wall of nave with plain parapet; marlstone masonry to right of
porch with Perpendicular-traceried window; limestone ashlar to
left of porch with marlstone plinth and 2 Perpendicular-traceried
windows. Offset buttressed south aisle wall with off-centre
moulded 4-centred arched doorway having plank doors. Two-light C19
pointed window with Perpendicular tracery to left; 3-square-headed
3-light windows right with cinquefoil heads and hoodmoulds; left
3-light has ogee-headed lights. Parapet-gabled marlstone-built
west end of aisle with Perpendicular-traceried window. 1873
rebuilt east parapet gable to aisle in limestone with marlstone
banding. Perpendicular-traceried east aisle window. Three-stage
tower with diagonal offset buttresses and octagonal corner turret
with spirelet. Moulded pointed-arched west doorway with hoodmould;
3-light late Perpendicular-traceried west window. Two-light plate-
traceried belfry openings with stone pierced screens; datestone
over on south tower face and further panel in crenellated parapet
with date 1632 and names THOMAS TRATFORD and THOMAS LONG.
Diagonal-set corner pinnacles to parapet. Ashlar chancel of 1859
with marlstone banding. Angle buttresses with aedicules on east
faces; 3-light traceried east window with quatrefoil-panelled
sill. Plain lancets in south chancel wall and to vestry to north
with catslide roof and parapet gabled organ loft. Pointed-arched
north vestry door with stiff leaf capitals to attached column
shafts.
Interior: limewashed with ashlar dressings. Nave has 7-bay
Perpendicular tie-beam roof with pierced lancets in spandrels and
with carved stone corbels. Five-bay south arcade with simple
pointed arches and octagonal piers; ribbed tunnel-vaulted aisle
roof at same height as nave. Large chancel arch of 1859 has
attached columns with bold stiff leaf capitals. Pointed-arched
niche in north nave wall adjacent to chancel arch and at high level
above arcade a Tudor-arched opening possibly for access to former
roof loft; remains of squint in aisle. High Victorian chancel
with complete painted decoration by Clayton and Bell of 1873.
Polychrome-tiled chancel floor and simple wagon roof. All openings
have attached colonnettes with stiff leaf capitals, including the
double sedilia in south wall with a lancet window above each bay.
Complete set of contemporary chancel fittings including gold mosaic
reredos by Powell and Son. C19 pews in nave and aisle. C18 oak
pulpit; C19 octagonal stone font. Good monuments on south aisle
wall: monument to GRACE SMYTH, died 1609, wife of John Smyth,
surveyor to the Berkeley family, is classical with kneeling figure
in contemporary dress within round-arched niche with enriched
entablature and marble Corinthian columns. Tablet to right dated
1733 has broken pediment with urn. Royal arms of Queen Anne dated
1709 over south aisle doorway. Gothick memorial to Rev Thomas
Jones, Perpetual Curate, died mdcccxxxii, located next to chancel
arch in nave: cinquefoil head to tablet and ogee crocket-enriched
hood over. Chancel has set of stained glass by Clayton and Bell
including good east window, typical of their most distinctive work.
West window by Powell. Some C19 stained glass in east end of
aisle. Picturesque setting on foothill jutting out into the
surrounding vale.
(P. Larkworthy, Clayton and Bell, Stained Glass Artists and
Decorators, 1984; A. Quiney, John Loughborough Pearson, 1979;
and D. Verey, Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds, 1979)

Listing NGR: ST7355796096

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17538174

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

• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
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  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)