Church of St Philip and St James, Tow Law, County Durham

Entry Name: Church of St Philip and St James

Listing Date: 5 June 1987

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1232516

English Heritage Legacy ID: 407895

ID on this website: 101232516

Location: St Philip and St James's Church, Tow Law, County Durham, DL13

County: County Durham

Civil Parish: Tow Law

Built-Up Area: Tow Law

Traditional County: Durham

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): County Durham

Church of England Parish: Tow Law

Church of England Diocese: Durham

Tagged with: Church building

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Tow Law

Description

TOW LAW CHURCH LANE
NZ 13 NW (East end)

23/311 Church of St.
Philip and St.
James
GV II
Parish church. Circa 1867-1869 by C. Hodgson Fowler. Roughly-squared coursed
sandstone with ashlar dressings; Welsh slate roof with stone gable copings;
stone spire. Nave with west porch and south-west tower; chancel with north
vestry. Decorated style. Full-width porch has two 2-centred-arched doors,
boarded and with elaborate hinges, under continuous drip string which is a
sill string for 3 central lancets. Wide buttresses with steeply-coped setback
under gabled coping of pent roof. Large wheel window above and octagonal tower
at right. Tower has buttresses on alternate sides, with slit windows to stair
and shouldered-arched belfry openings, under octagonal spire with lucarnes.

3-bay nave has paired lancets in first 2 bays, lancet and 2-light window in
third; 2-light window and lancet in chancel. 5-light east window under 8-foiled
roundel. Steeply-pitched roof has stone cross finials; weather-cock finial on
spire.

Interior: coursed squared sandstone with ashlar dressings. King-post nave roof
with arch-braced scissor trusses on stone-corbelled brackets; chancel has
panelled wood barrel vault, 2-centred chancel arch of 2 orders, the inner on
short shafts with clasping rings. Windows have wide 2-centred rere-arches.
Similarly-shaped organ arch and drip-mould over trefoil-headed vestry doorway.
Full-width painted panel below east window; wood-panelled chancel. Unusual
rood screen composed of varnished applied cones and other fruit. Glass includes
east window in memory of M.H. Simpson, first vicar; north windows signed E.
Smyth Sc. (c.1945) and Stanley Murray Scott 1965. Other windows original leaded
lights in rectangular and lozenge patterns. Stone pulpit with open balustrade
and marble shafts; square stone font on pedestal and 4 shafts. High-quality
doors and original fittings, with stencilled felted draught curtains to inner
doors.

Listing NGR: NZ1232838941

External Links

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