Description

STEEPLE LANGFORD LITTLE LANGFORD
SU 03 NW
(north side)
2/87 Church of St. Nicholas of Mira
23.3.60.
GV II*
Anglican parish church. C12, C13, C14, C15, restored 1864 by T.H.
Wyatt. Chequered flint and limestone, tiled roof with coped verges
and cross finials. Small church consisting of nave, south chapel
and chancel with C20 bellcote and south doorway. Particularly fine
Romanesque south doorway; round arch with billet, roll and
irregular chevron ornament on attached shafts with symbolic
carvings of horse-serpent and bird of prey to left and human figure
to right, lintel has well-preserved carving of a boar hunt with
dogs, boar and man, tympanum has symbolic carvings of beaded star
preaching cross, bishop with staff and tree with birds, door is C19
with ornamental hinges. To left is C16-style 2-light window with
hoodmould. South chapel has restored 3-light reticulated tracery
window with hoodmould, chamfered lancet and reset Medieval coffin
lid to east. Chancel has small chamfered light and restored
square-headed C14 window with hoodmould, east end has restored 3-
light pointed Perpendicular window with hoodmould. C19 lean-to
vestry to north has cusped lancets and ashlar stack with offsets
and reset carved stone heraldic arms of Henry Stourton and his wife
Katherine Frampton, formerly on north porch, reset Medieval coffin
lid on north wall of chancel. North side of nave has two C19 two-
light square-headed cusped windows, reset scratch dial on buttress,
cast-iron rainwater heads dated 1863. West end has three C14
stepped lancets with C14 cusped lancet over. C20 timber bellcote
with short plain spire.
Interior: Nave has 3-bay C19 arch-braced collar truss roof on
stone corbels, flagstone floors. C14 double-chamfered chancel arch
on square chamfered responds, squint to right between chancel and
south chapel. South chapel with double-chamfered arch, some
Medieval encaustic tiles survive below window, fine chest tomb with
strapwork panels, initials IH and recumbent, partly damaged, effigy
of William Haytor, died c1623, C12 'tongue-poker' carved face set
on south wall, below ridge. Chancel has C19 scissor-rafter roof,
Minton coloured tiled floor, C19 trefoil piscina and aumbry on
north wall. C19 chamfered pointed niche on north wall containing
freestanding Medieval carving of Crucifixion in the Roman style.
C19 pews, pulpit and choir stalls, C12 bowl font reset on octagonal
plinth, part of dado of former wooden chancel screen reused in
reading desk. Good 1860's stained glass by Lavers and Barraud, the
east window dedicated to Sidney, Lord Herbert of Wilton House. The
1864 restoration was paid for by Lady Herbert of Lea, widow of
Sidney Lord Herbert; the builders were Davies and Son of Frome.
(Salisbury F Winchester Journal, July 30th, 1864)

Listing NGR: SU0478336620

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17546023

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

• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]