Description

SO 59 NW; 7/24

CHURCH PREEN C.P.,
CHURCH PREEN

Church of St John the Baptist

13.6.58

GV

II*

Parish church, formerly part monastic. Circa 1220-50, restored 1866
with south chapel of c.1920-25. Uncoursed limestone rubble with ashlar
dressings, machine tile roof. Nave and chancel in one with west
bellcote; north porch and vestry, south chancel chapel.

Nave: north wall
has two lancets, one of 1866 to west and an original lancet with transom
and low-side window below to east; gabled stone porch to west probably
C17 but restored when adjoining vestry was added to west in 1866;
south wall has two lancets and a pointed doorway to east, all of 1866;
west wall also largely re-built at this date, external gabled bellcote
with buttresses beneath,forming narrow pointed arch to ground, frames
window of two paired lancets. Chancel: in two bays, original lancets to
north and one on south which also has embattled south chapel (now partly
roofless) concealing blocked C13 doorway; original east window of three
lancets, unusually all of same height, and internally under a segmental
scoinson arch.

INTERIOR: retains original long narrow plan but
considerably restored 1866, especially at west end; pointed north door-
way renewed at this time and most of the fittings and furnishings are
contemporary including continuous trussed rafter roof to nave and
chancel; latter has C13 trefoil-headed piscina in south wall and
recessed sedile below lancet immediately to west, 2 corbels for statues
flank east window, blocked doorway with shouldered arch was presumably
the monks' entrance to the church; reading desk dated 1646 has initials
"ID" and the letter "S" backwards, pulpit probably a little later,
contemporary re-used panelling fixed to walls; Romanesque-style font
on clustered shaft mid-C19 but square-shaped basin in north porch may
be C13; another font (now in south chapel) is probably late C13/early
C14 - octagonal, the diagonal sides being shorter and ending in small
broaches; stained glass in east and west windows c.1870 and c.1900
respectively with pre-Raphaelite style glass to north-east and north-
west windows of chancel. The yew tree in the churchyard is said to
be one of the oldest in England. Founded as a cell of the Cluniac
Abbey at Much Wenlock c.1150, the eastern part of the church was
monastic and the western part parochial; the house was dissolved
in 1534.

B.o.E., Pp.99-100; V.C.H.VIII (1968), p.128; D.H.S.
Cranage, The Churches of Shropshire, Part 6 (1903), Pp.470-3.

Listing NGR: SO5432798145

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17551040

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

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2