Description

SW 52 NE,
6/216

GERMOE CHURCHTOWN, Germoe

St Germoe's Chair

GV

I

Detached sedilia building. Probably circa early C13. Dressed granite front and
architectural features, otherwise granite rubble. Scantle slate roof with gable
ends.
Plan: single-cell parallelogram plan with 2-bay open arcade to the front gable end
and a stone bench against the inside of the rear wall with 3 niches to the back
formed by a blind 3-bay arcade, the central niche is slightly hollowed. The left-hand side wall is built into the bank and adjoins the churchyard walls q.v. It is
possible that the whole structure is a later medieval construction using earlier
elements.
2-bay gable ended front: open pointed arched arcade carried on round Romanesque
imposts and round central column; the responds are engaged half columns; moulded
bases and capitals with annulet rings; straight chamfered arches. At the apex of the
gable is a probably C12 carved head.
Interior has a moulded granite bench along the rear wall and above the bench is a 3-
bay blind arcade with roll moulded pointed arches springing from two tapered round
columns and from the side walls as responds. The columns have tapered-in bases with
roll mouldings and the capitals are tapered out with annulet ring mouldings. Above
the slightly taller and wider middle arch is a probably C13 carved crowned head.

St Germoe's chair is a remarkable and unique building whether it is mostly original
or a later imaginative use of C12 and C13 architectural features.

Listing NGR: SW5856729424

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17529514

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

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)