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

• Wikidata Q17538174

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Recommended Books

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
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  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)