Church of St Luke, Hodnet, Shropshire

Description

HODNET C.P. CHURCH STREET (North side)
SJ 6028-6128
13/45 Church of Saint Luke
10.2.59

GV I

Parish church. C12 south aisle. Remodelled and south
aisle chapel, nave, chancel and tower added in C14. Heavily restored
and vestry added in 1846, north chapel added in 1870, possibly by Anthony
Salvin, and church further restored in 1883. Red and yellow sandstone
ashlar with some dressed stone. Plain tile roof, separately over nave and
aisle. 5-bay nave and aisle, 2-bay chancel and south chapel, south porch
and vestry, chapel to north of chancel and octagonal tower at west end of
nave. Restored in a Decorated Gothic style. Tower: 3 stages.
Octagonal plan. Chamfered plinth, corner buttresses up to belfry with
chamfered offsets, string course to belfry, parapet string with carved
gargoyles, battlemented parapet with moulded coping, and weathervane.
Belfry openings in alternate faces of 2 louvred trefoiled ogee-headed
lights with quatrefoil in tracery and chamfered reveals. Lower stages
with rectangular lights to west, north-west and south-west, those to first
stage with moulded reveals and those to second stage with chamfered reveals.
Low boarded doorway to west. Octagonal wooden clocks on belfry to north-
east and south-east. Yellow sandstone memorial tablet fixed to north-east
face of tower, inscribed: "HERE LYETH THE BODY OF / SUSANNA WIFE OF /
THOMAS GARDNAR OF / SANSAW IN THIS COUNTY GENTLEMAN AND / ELDER DAUGHTER OF /
ROBERT ARNEWAY / GENTLEMAN AND / ANN HIS WIFE OF / WESTON IN THIS PARISH /
SHE DECEASED THE 30th / DAY OF OCTOBER IN 1661". South aisle and south
chapel: chamfered and moulded plinth, buttresses with chamfered offsets
(diagonal at corners), chamfered eaves, and coped parapeted gable ends
with moulded kneelers, finial at apex to east and cross at apex to west.
5 + 3 bays. Aisle windows of 2 trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil
tracery; chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds. West window of 4 trefoil-
headed lights with flowing Y-tracery, moulded reveals, chamfered cill
and returned hoodmould. C19 continuously-chamfered arched south doorway
in second bay from left with nail-studded door dated "GB WW 1705" (in nails)
and remains of former round-arched C18 doorway above with flush keystone.
Porch with double chamfered plinth, flanking flush buttresses and
parapeted gable with moulded coping, gabled kneelers and fleur-de-lys
finial at apex. Moulded arch of 2 arches, the inner has nook shafts
with moulded bases and capitals and the outer is continuous. Hoodmould
with carved heads as stops. Pair of boarded doors. Small trefoil-
headed side windows with hollow chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds. Side
benches inside. Inscribed sundial dated 1673 on wall between fifth and
sixth bays. South chapel windows of 3 stepped trefoil-headed lights with
chamfered reveals and hoodmould. East window of 5 trefoil-headed lights
with flowing Y-tracery, moulded reveals and returned hoodmould. Central
vestry to south with chamfered plinth, and parapeted gable with
moulded coping and kneelers, and integral stone stack at apex, consisting
of stubby octagonal shaft with moulded cap (possibly truncated). Pair of
windows to front, each of 2 trefoil-headed lights with hollow-chamfered
reveals and returned hoodmoulds. Boarded doorway in left-hand return
front with continuously-chamfered arch. Right-hand return front with
pair of memorial tablets set in wall; one in memory of Samuel Herrick
Macaulay who died at Hodnet Rectory on October 10th 1895, and one in
memory of Henry William Macaulay, son of the Rev. S.H. Macaulay, who died
at Muang Phray in Siam on May 1st, 1893 Nave and chancel: chamfered
plinth, buttresses with chamfered offsets, diagonal to east, and parapeted
gable end to east with moulded kneelers and finial at apex. 4 windows to
nave, 3 to right of 2 trefoil-headed lights with cusped chamfered reveals
and hoodmoulds. Left-hand window of 3 stepped trefoil-headed lights with
chamfered reveals and hoodmould. East window of 5 trefoil-headed lights
with intersecting tracery and chamfered reveals. North (Heber) chapel:
chamfered plinth, angle buttresses with chamfered offsets, and coped
parapeted gables with gabled kneelers. Pair of cinquefoil-headed lancets
to north with hollow-chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds with carved stops.
East window of 4 cinquefoil-headed lights with flowing tracery, hollow-
chamfered reveals and hoodmould with carved stops. Interior: C14 and
C19 five-bay nave arcade consisting of alternating circular and octagonal
piers with chamfered bases and capitals, and recessed chamfered arches.
Tall tower arch of 6 orders with continuous sunk chamfers and wave mouldings.
Reused probably C17 panelling in tympanum above C19 doors. Pair of
chamfered-arched vestry doorways. Arched doorway between chancel and south
aisle chapel. Chamfered rear arches, south aisle windows with remains of
former C12 and C18 round arches in wall above. Segmental-arched piscina
or aumbry in south-west wall of south aisle. C19 nave and aisle roofs
with arched-braced collars springing from stone corbels and chancel and
south aisle chapel roofs with hammer and tie-beams. Pairs of moulded
purlins, sub-divided into square panels and carved heraldic bosses.
North (Heber) chapel with double chamfered arch, the outer chamfer
continuous and the inner springing from circular half-piers with moulded
bases and capitals; hoodmould with carved stops. Chapel with moulded
cill string, moulded cornice, chamfered rear arches, and trussed-rafter
roof; east window has nook shafts with moulded bases and capitals.
Fittings: chancel has reused C17 dado panelling with carved lozenges
and arches etc. Altar with raised and fielded panelling. Commandment
boards flanking eastwindow with Ionic pilasters and round arches with
carved spandrels. Brass communion rails. Probably C18 hexagonal
wooden pulpit with bolection-moulded panels, moulded cornice and C19
chamfered stone base. Brass eagle lectern. Plain choir stalls. C17 or
C17-style communion table with bulbous legs in south aisle chapel.
Organ in south aisle chapel. Plain pews incorporating some old
material; frontals with traceried panels and poppyheads. C17 stone
font with circular step, circular stem and octagonal lead-lined bowl
with carved panels, depicting a cock, eagle, lion etc. and continuous
carved band below. Pair of Cl7 parish chests, one with lozenge panels
and one plain with 3 locks and moulded top. Poor box adjacent to
south door, with 3 locks and inscribed "REMEMBER THE POORE". Encaustic
tiles to chancel, south chapel and Heber chapel. Small chained library.
Stained glass: east window of 1846, in memory of Mary Heber, d. Dec.
22, 1846. South aisle chapel east window by David Evans, depicting
Mark, Luke and John. South-east window of south aisle chapel dated
1852. Glass in Heber chapel dated 1901, 1902 and 1911. Monuments:
Hugh Pigot of Peplow, d.1697 (aisle, s. wall). Cartouche with
scrolled surround and shield and crest above. Richard Hill of Hawkstone,
d. 1726 (aisle, w. wall). Large obelisk resting on globes with flanking
wreathed urns on base and cartouche with arms at top. Henrietta Vernon,
d. 1752 (nave, n. wall). Wreathed urn on a pedestal against an obelisk,
flanking urns, cartouche with shield and base with 3 winged angels.
Attributed to Sir Henry Cheere. Sir Rowland Hill (1705-83), erected by
his son Sir Richard Hill (nave, n. wall). Large swagged urn against an
obelisk and cartouche on pedestal. Sir Richard Hill of Hawkstone, d.
1808 (aisle, s. wall). Urn and sarcophagus against the background of
an obelisk. Signed by John Carline. John Hill, d. 1814 (nave, n. wall).
Mourning mother and child in front of sarcophogus, obelisk with shield
above. By John Carline. Bishop Heber, d. 1826 (in Heber chapel).
Portrait head in profile against draped background. By Chantrey.
Inscription by Robert Southey. Richard Heber, d. 1833 (Chancel).
Elaborate Gothic monument with central crocketed ogee arch and
traceried side panels. Blanche Emily Heber, d. 1870 (Heber chapel).
Chest tomb consisting of gadrooned sarcophogus with fluted square corner
piers and recumbent effigy. By Reginald Cholmondeley of Condover. Pair
of old photographs of the interior of the church before 1883 showing the
aisle with box pews and a central pulpit against the south wall.
Reginald Heber was Bishop of Calcutta from 1823 until his death in 1826,
and the writer of many hymns including "From Greenland's Icy Mountains"
and others. D.H.S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches
of Shropshire, Part 8, pp. 691-96; B.O.E., pp. 150-2; Church guide.

Listing NGR: SJ6124428600

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Church of St Luke

A Grade I Listed Building in Hodnet, Shropshire

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