Description

893/12/30 BOULTON LANE
10-NOV-67 BOULTON
CHURCH OF ST MARY

II*
Parish church with C12 doorway, C14 porch, but mainly of 1840 by J. Mason, extended in 1871, 1908 and in 1960 by S. Comper.

MATERIALS: Snecked rock-faced gritstone to chancel, chapel and north aisle, coursed squared gritstone to south aisle and porch, C20 additions to aisles in reconstituted stone. Roofs are clay tiles with crested ridge tiles.

PLAN: Long aisled nave with south porch, lower chancel with north-east chapel and south-east vestry.

EXTERIOR: The chancel has angle buttresses and 3-light Perpendicular window, and 2-light square-headed south window above the low vestry. The north chapel (formerly vestry) has a pointed east window and Norman-style north doorway which, although it is said to incorporate masonry from the dismantled chancel arch, appears to be entirely C19 work. The 1908 section of the south aisle has three 2-light square-headed windows. The re-sited porch has a distinctive cinquefoiled entrance arch. Inside, the C12 south door has a single order of shafts with scalloped capitals, arch with chevrons, lozenge frieze to the label and a cable moulding at the base of the now blank tympanum. The C19 section of the north aisle has three 2-light Decorated windows. Aisle extensions of 1960, which are 3 bays on the south and 4 bays on the north side, have windows with Y-tracery. The 4-light west window has intersecting tracery and a transom, above a west door. A gabled bellcote rises from the eaves on the south side.

INTERIOR: The nave has arcades of 1871, 1908 and 1960 which are of similar design, with octagonal piers and double-chamfered arches, polychrome to the 1908 arches in the south aisle. The chancel arch is finely moulded on corbelled shafts. The nave has a painted arched-brace roof. The aisles have lean-to roofs, in which the earlier sections to the east have diagonal struts on corbels. The chancel has a closed polygonal roof divided into panels by moulded ribs. In the south wall are sedilia and piscina under ogee heads in square frames. Walls are plastered and painted. The sanctuary has a diaperwork marble floor and there are floorboards beneath benches.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: The font of 1871 has an octagonal bowl and stem of 4 marble shafts with stiff-leaf capitals. The polygonal pulpit is of alabaster with blind panelling, on a painted stone base. The prominent west gallery of 1840 is brought forward in the centre, and has an open balustrade. Simple nave benches have moulded ends. The choir stalls are dated 1964. In the north aisle are 2 windows with stained glass by Hardman and a window by Powell & Sons. The crucifixion east window is by Walker J. Pearce (1913).

HISTORY: The church retains some re-sited C12 and C14 fabric but is mainly the product of several phases of enlargement in the C19 and C20. The first phase of enlargement was the westwards extension of the nave in 1840, by John Mason (1794-1847), surveyor of Derby. In 1871 the church was restored and enlarged, by rebuilding the nave south wall, adding a north aisle, north vestry and bell turret, and dismantling the C12 chancel arch. The architect responsible is not known. The south aisle was added in 1908, at which time the original C12 south doorway and C14 south porch were dismantled and rebuilt. In 1960 the aisles were extended westwards to the length of the nave by Sebastian Comper.

SOURCES:
Pevsner, N (revised E. Williamson)., The Buildings of England: Derbyshire (1978), 190.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The church of St Mary, Boulton, is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* The church is of particular interest for the survival of a good C12 doorway, and a rare C14 porch.
* The rest of the church is considerably altered but is still of interest.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Mary at Wikipedia
• Church of St Mary official website
• Wikidata Q17553559

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

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  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings