Description

STANHOPE MARKET PLACE
NY 9939
(North side)
34/226 Stanhope
31.1.67 Church of St.Thomas
GV II*
Parish church. Mostly C12 and C13; restored 1663 and 1867. Sandstone rubble
earlier parts, snecked sandstone C19 parts, with quoins and ashlar dressings;
lead-covered roof with stone gable copings and cross finials. West tower;
aisled nave with south porch; chancel with north vestries. Wide 3-stage tower
has small round-headed window in first stage, painted wooden clock above, and
paired chamfered belfry lancets with central shaft. Corbel table supports
battlements of grey stone, perhaps C17, of millstone grit, with prominent stone
drains, sloped coping and small eroded corner pinnacles. North elevation has
single ogee-headed belfry opening. Porch has chamfered round-headed arch under
small cusped light under shallow gable with steeper peak. C19 inner door in
round-headed chamfered surround with roll moulding and roll drip-mould, on
pilaster string and nook shafts; side stone benches. C19 Decorated tracery in
2-light south aisle, 3-light north aisle and 3-light west windows. 5 cusped
lights under 2-centred arch in east window; 3 similar lights in south chancel
and east vestry; other chancel windows narrow round-headed and lancet. C19
priest's door. Chancel has ball-flower frieze. Aisles have roll-moulded
parapets. Sundial, dated 1727, on south chancel aisle with motto Ut Hora Sic
Vita.

Interior: stone with ashlar dressings, part of north arcade Frosterley limestone;
waggon roof to nave and choir, panelled to sanctuary. 4-bay double-chamfered
nave arcades, with continuous drip moulds; round piers with moulded capitals
on south; more slender columns with octagonal capitals and on high square
bases on north. 2-centred chamfered chancel arch and inner arch on head-carved
corbels, and double-chamfered tower arch on octagonal half-columns, with drip-
moulds. 2-centred rere-arches to aisle windows. C17 reredos, resited in tower,
has arcaded panelling under richly-carved entablature. Tub font, with wide roll
moulding, not used. Early C20 Jacobean-style chancel screen and altar
furnishings and screen; C17 poppyheads to bench ends. One tier of C17 pulpit
survives in north aisle. Fragments of painted medieval glass in west window.
Plaques in tower give details of restorations. Memorials include classical-
style white marble on black mount, signed by Sanders, New Road, Fitzroy Square,
London, to Isabella Arnison, daughter of John Brumwell, surgeon R.N. and widow
of Christopher Arnison, surgeon: died 1846 aged 79. Jacobean royal arms over
door. 2 oval high-relief panels in chancel of Adam and Eve with the serpent,
and Christ walking on the water, in Flemish style; high quality, perhaps C17.
Victorian royal cipher in glass in south aisle east window. Painted panels of
Creed, Commandments and Lord's Prayer now in vestry. Roman altar, found in
Bollihope Common, temporarily removed from vestry.

Listing NGR: NY9970039229

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17536581

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.

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