Description

WOMBOURNE C.P. CHURCH ROAD (north side)
SO 8693-8793
13/144 Church of St. Benedict
Biscop
27.6.63
GV II
Parish church. C14 west tower, north aisle probably C16, the rest 1866-7
by G.E. Street in a late C13 style. Sandstone ashlar, plain tile roofs with
coped verges. West tower, 5-bay nave with north and south aisles, north
side chapel and south porch; 2-bay chancel with north vestry and organ chamber.
West tower: Stepped plinth, 3 moulded strings and crenellated parapet;
recessed stone spire with crocketed corner pinnacles and 3 tiers of lucarnes
with ogee hoods; pointed west window of two cinquefoil headed lights and
curvilinear tracery of circa 1340; gargoyles to each face of tower at base
of parapet. North aisle: 2 pointed north windows with deeply hollowed
surrounds and restored perpendicular tracery. At the east end a blocked door
and above it a restored 3-light window with Tudor arch, higher up a trefoil
headed loop. North chapel: 2 pointed north windows each of 2 lights with
Decorated tracery. Blocked pointed door to the east. South aisle: the
south and west windows are paired lancets with cusped heads, pointed east
window of 4 lancet lights with cusped heads and plate tracery. Central
buttress on south side. Gabled south porch with pointed arch, dog tooth
moulded hood and stiff leaf encrusted frieze at springing level of arch.
Chancel: the south side has a buttressed bay division and pointed 3-light
windows with late Geometric tracery, the east window is similar to the east
window of the south aisle and has a roll-moulded dripstone with stiff leaf
stops. Vestry and organ chamber: pointed east door with scroll-moulded
dripstone and stiff leaf stops. East window of 3-trefoil headed lights.
Interior: nave arcades have cylindrical columns on moulded bases with stiff
leaf capitals and pointed arches of 2 orders, the outer chamfered and the
inner plain, nailhead ornamented hood moulds. Pointed tower arch of 2
chamfered orders filled with an early C20 Perpendicular traceried screen; in
front of this is a rectangular room of circa 1911 with glazed panels. Collar
purlin roofs over nave and north aisles, the collars of the nave roof have
straight braces. King-post roof over south aisle. In the north aisle 2
pointed arches, each of 2 chamfered orders open to the north chapel, they
spring from a central cylindrical column with moulded base and stiff leaf
capital. At the east end of the north aisle a similar arch is occupied by
the organ. North and south aisle windows have segmental rear-arches with
chamfered ribs. On the north side of the chancel a large screened off
arch and a pointed doorway. Trefoil-headed niche on north side of sanctuary.
The south-east window of the chancel has a ribbed rear arch springing from
banded shafts with stiff leaf capitals and moulded bases. Panelled and
painted wagon roof over chancel. Fittings: stone font probably by Street;
basin with trefoil-headed arcading on clustered, filleted shafts on moulded
bases; elaborate wooden font cover with spire. Small Italian early C16
relief in south aisle. Pulpit by Street; circular, stone on marble shafts,
trefoil headed arcading with marble shafts and stiff leaf capitals. Low
decorative wrought iron rood screen and gates. Brass altar rail on decor-
ative wrought iron supports with elaborate brackets. Brass eagle lectern
ofcirca 1898. Organ of 1870 by Bevington & Sons of Soho, London.
Monuments: large tablet to Richard Bayley Marsh by Sir Francis Chantrey
depicting a mourning woman next to an urn with pedestal bearing a profile
medallion. Stained glass: all the windows of the chancel, and north and
south aisles. The windows of the aisles are mostly by Kempe, chancel windows
and east window of south aisle are by Clayton & Bell. B.O.E. pp. 326-7;
V.C.H. vol. XX, pp.220-1.

Listing NGR: SO8767293179

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26525946

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

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair