Description

ST 76 NE SWAINSWICK UPPER SWAINSWICK

5/239 CHURCH OF ST MARY

1.2.56 II*

G.V.

Anglican Parish Church. C12, altered C14 and C15; restored mid - late C19 by
C.E. Davis of Bath. West tower, nave, north aisle, south porch, chancel and
north chancel chapel. Ashlar and coursed rubble; stone slate roof with coped
raised verges. The west tower is probably C14 and it is built into the west end
of the nave: 3 stages with plain ashlar parapet and quoins; saddleback roof;
single square light on second stage and 2-light cusped window to bell chamber;
buttress with off-sets at west corner. Nave: to the left of the porch is
2-light window with cusped ogee-headed tracery, under a square hood mould, single
narrow light at left; to the right of the porch is a fine 3-light window with an
ogee head, moulded mullions and surrounds and reticulated tracery in the upper
part, ogee hoodmould and finial; at the far right is a 2-light casement window
with segmental heads and ovolo moulded surrounds. Gabled and projecting south
porch; plank studded door in fine moulded and ogee headed doorway. Chancel is
mostly C19: 2 windows on south side, one plain with 3-lights and one single
cusped light; 4-light Perpendicular style but C19 east window. North chantry
chapel has a 4-light late Perpendicular style east window with cusped heads and
under a square dripmould; similar 2-light window on north side and doorway with a
chamfered and 4-centre headed surround (leaf carving in the spandrels). North
aisle: remains of stoup close to chantry door; large 4-light Perpendicular style
window at left, with 4-centred head; 2-light window to west with a small square
light at the right; 3-light west window in ovolo moulded and round-headed surrounds.
South door is mid - late C12: single columns with scalloped capitals; arch with
2 bands of zig-zag; hoodmould with a band of dogtooth moulding and carved head
stops. Interior. Three of the supporting piers of the tower are visible:
octagonal with stops on the south piers; double chamfered arches to east and
south with continuous hoodmoulds and string course; coarsely cut head stops and
figure of a demi-angel on south-east pier. 2 bay north arcade with piers of
alternating hollow mouldings and engaged shafts; 4-centred arches but round-
headed and chamfered, narrow arch to east. Ogee moulded chancel arch; arch from
aisle to north chantry chapel has engaged columns with foliate and crocketted
capitals; arch from chancel to north chapel has a Perpendicular style panelled
soffit and sides. Stoup to east of south door has an elaborate canopy with an
ogee head and crocketted pinnacles; plain 4-centre headed recess with carved
spandrels and thin columns surrounds piscina in north chapel. Pulpit: late C19
in an Early English style. Font, possibly early C13; recut: ashlar; octagonal
bowl on a cylindrical stem and with a moulded base. Monuments. Tower: Mary
Morgan 1794, by William Reeves of Bath in marble and with a draped urn. Nave:
Royal Arms of Charles I, 1647. Chancel: Catherine Winsloe, by T. King of Bath
in marble with an oval medallion bearing a draped urn which stands on a plinth
decorated with heraldry; brass to Edmund Forde, 1439. North aisle: John and
William Turner, 1678 and Anne Danvers, 1682, inscribed tablets. (N. Pevsner,
The Buildings of England : North Somerset and Bristol, 1958).

Listing NGR: ST7565268417

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Mary at Wikipedia
• Church of St Mary official website
• Wikidata Q17531642

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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  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
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  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]