Description

SJ 4623-4723 MYDDLE C.P. MYDDLE

15/92 Church of Saint Peter 27.5.53 GV II

Parish church. Tower of c.1634, by John Dod, possibly incorporating earlier parts at base to south, church rebuilt in 1744 by William Cooper (datestone and churchwarden's accounts), and chancel rebuilt in 1747; whole restored in 1857-8 and chancel "beautified" and vestry/organ chamber added in 1877 (brass plaque in chancel). Stands on an earlier site. Dressed red sandstone with grey sandstone ashlar dressings; west tower of dressed yellow/grey sandstone with ashlar dressings and C20 tile patching; plain tile roofs. 4 bay nave and 2-bay chancel in one with north porch, 4-bay south aisle, west tower, and south-east vestry/organ chamber. C19 restoration and addition in an early C14 Gothic style. Tower: 3 stages. Moulded plinth, chamfered offsets diagonal buttresses with chamfered offsets, moulded parapet string with gargoyles at corners, chamfered battlemented plinth, and pyramidal cap with weathervane. Chamfered 2-light louvred belfry openings with Y-tracery and returned hoodmoulds. Tall chamfered staircase windows to west. Inserted c.1858 west window of 3 trefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical tracery, chamfered reveals and hoodmould with carved stops. C17 doorway with chamfered reveals in second stage to south (possible former access to aisle roof) and C19 door to north with strap hinges and chamfered head. Clock on second stage to north. Nave and chancel: moulded plinth, moulded cill string, coved C18 cornice to right and C19 cornice to left with ballflower and other ornament, parapeted gable ends with chamfered copings, gabled kneelers, cross on apex to east, and ridge cresting. Angle buttresses to east. 1 + 3 windows; C19 windows of 2 trefoil- or cinquefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical and flowing tracery, chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds with carved stops. C19 moulded-arched north doorway to right has pair of C19 boarded doors with strap hinges. North porch with double-chamfered plinth, diagonal buttresses, moulded cornice, parapeted gable with trefoil-gabled kneelers resting on carved angels and cross at apex, and ridge cresting. Moulded arch with fillet and one order of shafts with moulded bases and capitals, and pair of boarded doors with strap hinges; 6-foiled side lights with stained glass. Stone attached to north wall of nave inscribed: "THIS/CHURCH/was rebuilt/ A.D.1744/Edwd. Hanmer/John Bate/Thos. Shaw/Church Wardens". East end of chancel: C19 window of 3 trefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical tracery, chamfered reveals, and hoodmould with carved heads as stops; trefoiled opening in apex of gable above consists of 3 trefoils and has hoodmould with carved stops. South aisle: moulded plinth, moulded cill string, coved cornice, parapeted gable ends with trefoil-gabled kneelers and cross at apices, and ridge cresting. C19 windows of 2 trefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical and flowing tracery, chamfered reveals, and hoodmoulds with carved stops. Large C19 west window of 3 trefoil-headed lights with cusped Geometrical tracery, chamfered reveals, and hoodmould with carved heads as stops. East window of 2 trefoil- headed lights with quatrefoil tracery and hoodmould with carved stops. Vestry in south-east angle: chamfered plinth, moulded eaves cornice, parapeted gable with trefoil-gabled kneelers, and integral red sandstone end stack with octagonal shaft and moulded cornice. East front: segmental- arched window to right with 2 trefoil-headed diamond-leaded lights, wooden lintel over recess to right with cinquefoil-headed window and steps down to boarded basement door. South front: double -chamfered cinquefoil- headed window to right with hoodmould and carved stops; entrance set back to left consisting of a pair of boarded doors with strap hinges, moulded segmental arch, moulded cornice and blocking course, and dormer set back above consisting of 3 cinquefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery and ballflower-ornamented cornice. Interior: C19 four-bay nave roof and C19 two-bay chancel roof with chamfered arch-braced trusses springing from stone corbels, longitudinally braced central struts above and pairs of chamfered purlins; chancel roof with cusped arch bracing also and ballflower-ornamented frieze. C19 four-bay south aisle roof as nave. C17 continuously double-chamfered tower arch with C19 chamfered lancet to second stage of tower in wall above. C19 four-bay arcade consisting of circular piers with octagonal cushion-type capitals (half pier to east and corbelled half pier to west), and chamfered round arches. Tall C19 double-chamfered arch between chancel and organ chamber and chamfered-arched vestry doorway to left with boarded door. Tall C19 chamfered arch between south aisle and organ chamber and boarded vestry door to right with moulded segmental head. Chamfered rear arches throughout except for east window with moulded rear arch. Fittings: C17 or early C17 iron-bound parish chest beneath tower; C17 probable former communion table by north door with turned legs. Other fittings C19: panelled sanctuary, brass altar rails, lectern, choir stalls with poppyheads and traceried panels, low chancel screen, and pierced octagonal wooden pulpit on stone base. C19 pews in nave and aisle and 2 former free benches now beneath tower. Baptistery beneath tower including C19 octagonal stone font with carved panels and inscription, tall wooden font cover made from wood brought from the Holy Land and carved by the Rev. G. H. Egerton in 1879 with inscription, and inscription in encaustic tiles at base of font. Painted Royal Coat of Arms of 1775 above tower arch, 2 hatchments on north wall of nave, and pair of C19 Gothic communion boards under tower. Remains of ducking stool in vestry. Stained glass: mid-and late C19. East window commemorating the Rev. Thomas Egerton (d.1847) and that in north window of chancel commemorating Mary, Lady Marjoribanks, wife of the Rev. George Henry Egerton (see plaque). Brasses: Arthur Chambre of Petton (d.1564) and his wife and children; Rector Ralph Kinaston (d.1629); other late C17 and C18 memorial brasses on chancel floor and walls. Other monuments: marble tablet to Richard Atcherley (d.1763), with flanking reeded strips, top with acroteria and palms flanking shield, and urn above; tablet to Richard Atcherley (d.1755), wood painted to represent stone with lugged architrave, swan-necked pediment with central finial, flanking painted scrolls, and key-ornamented base; tablet to Robert Atcherley of Marton (d.1755), wood painted to represent stone with acanthus-decorated sides, broken moulded cornice, central cartouche with shield, and swagged urn above. Richard Gough (1635-1723), author of Antiquityes and Memoyres of the Parish of Myddle (1701) is probably buried in the chancel. Gough describes how John Dod, the mason, of the tower, was charged £5 for every yard high it was built. D.H.S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Part 9, pp.763-6 and appendix, p.1000; Richard Gough, Ed. David Hey, The History of Myddle, Penguin (1981), pp. 33-4; David G. Hey, An English Rural Community: Myddle Under the Tudors and Stuarts, Leicester University Press (1974), pp.17-20; E.M.W. Rogers, A Short History of the Church and Parish of St. Peter's, Myddle, Shropshire (1984); B.O.E., pp.214-5; Colvin, p.233; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire (1905), p . 151.

Listing NGR: SJ4676023612

External Links

• Wikidata Q26582862

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