Nominal: 965 Hz Weight: 672 lbs Diameter: 32.25" Bell 1 of 4
Founded by Leicester foundry
Dove Bell ID: 2297 Tower ID: 10832 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Eastleach Martin: St Michael
Overview
Grid reference: SP 202 52
The church was founded by Richard Fitzpons who came over with the Conqueror, and his son conveyed it in about 1144 to the Priory at Malvern. The building is still basically his, as is shown by the north and south doorways and the responds of the chancel arch. The chancel was rebuilt in the Early English style, in the thirteenth-century, when the original chancel arch was replaced.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower, nave with south porch and north transept; chancel.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was founded by Richard Fitzpons who came over with the Conqueror, and his son conveyed it in about 1144 to the Priory at Malvern. The building is still basically his, as is shown by the north and south doorways and the responds of the chancel arch. The chancel was rebuilt in the Early English style, in the thirteenth-century, when the original chancel arch was replaced. A window in the south wall of the nave is of c.1280, and the north transept was also added about this time. The south porch is of c.1300 and the west tower has an early Perpendicular window in the west wall. The church was restored in 1880, and in 1886 it was reroofed by Waller, Son and Wood, the builder being Joseph Bowley of Lechlade, at a cost of about £700.
Exterior Description
The tower is of three stages, with the uppermost divided from the others externally by a simple moulded course above which it is slightly set back. The lowest stage has diagonal buttresses with two weatherings, and between them is a fine three-light Perpendicular window with ogee-headed main lights, panel tracery and a moulded hood. On the north side, filling the angle between the tower and the nave, is a triangular construction housing the staircase with a weathering about one-third of the way up and a cross-shaped window above that, its arms terminatingwith round holes. This has a stone roof which follows the line of the nave gable. The uppermost stage of the tower has a small rectangular louvred light in each face and a low-pitched pyramidal roof with a weathercock above a baluster-shaped finial which may be eighteenth-century.
The nave has few windows. The north wall indeed is blind, with only the signs of a blocked two-light window under an arch high up towards the west end which may have been a seventeenth-century insertion to light a west gallery. The north doorway, which appears to be Norman inside, has a horizontal stone lintel in the wall outside which may also be seventeenth century, but the masonry blocking is very old and obscures most of the dressed stonework. In the south wall there are two trefoil-headed lancets west of the porch which seem to be nineteenth-century, though doubtless replacing what existed previously, and to the east of the porch is a large three-light window with uncusped intersecting tracery and a moulded hood.
The doorway which the porch shelters is Norman, with a roll-moulding over a pair of nook-shafts and cushion capitals ornamented with billet moulding. The porch was added in c.1300. It has a double chamfered outer arch with a moulded hood, closed by a single gate of two leaves which sweep downwards in the middle, the remaining space being filled with small-scale, closely set, iron railings. There is a cubic sundial on the apex of the gable and two mass dials at the south-west corner, one at the south-east. Set in the east wall of the porch is a trefoil-headed niche, a peculiarity of this area. In the wall above the south doorway is a carved stone mostly concealed by a beam, but apparently depicting a cross.
At the south-east corner of the nave is a large buttress which at first sight appears to be of eighteenth-century ashlar. One of its stones, however, is carved with another mass-dial. The kneeler of the east nave gable has a small cross in relief on the east face and a row of billet ornament (indicating its Norman origin) on the south face.
The north transept is a distinguished piece of architecture. The window in the north gable is of five lights with cusping and mouldings along the cuter face of the mullions and tracery. The moulded hood has a head at each stop - one with a combed beard and the other with a mitre. The east and west windows are each of three lights, of similar design with cinquefoiled heads to the main lights and three cusped spherical triangles in the tracery. They have heads carved at the stops of the moulded hoods. The transept has no buttress and the unbonded abutment with the north-east corner of the nave proves its later date. The apex of the east nave gable is capped by a tiny sanctus bell cote worn wafer-thin.
The chancel is mostly thirteenth-century with lancet windows. The three separate lancets in the north wall are set at unequal intervals about a buttress. The two outer ones are flush with the wall but the middle one is recessed. There are no other buttresses to the chancel. The south wall has three windows, two being single lanets but the easternmost being two trefoil-headed lancets placed close together. The two single lancets are separated by the prist's doorway which is surrounded by a filletted moulding and provided with a moulded hood. The east wall has a window composed of three trefoil-headed lights under a moulded hood. Higher in the wall there is a cinquefoil-headed niche for a statue (now empty) and above that again, at the very top of the gable, a small roundel carved with a cross. The gable cross, which has one arm missing, appears to be old.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
Chancel north I : old fragments of canopies, two heads of female saints and one of a king, reset on October 30th 1933 by H.J. Constance, glazier, Cheltenham.
Stained Glass
North transept east : fragments of old glass in the tracery, mostly abstract.
Stained Glass
North transept west : fragments of old glass in the tracery, with a head among them.
Stained Glass
Nave west: some old fragments, one with a leopard's head.
Interior
Interior Description
Inside the church the walls are plastered, leaving only the surrounds of the later windows exposed. The floor is paved with red and black tiles in the alleys and with wood blocks elsewhere, which doubtless date from 1886. In the nave the only apparent feature which suggests it Norman origin (apart from the semi-circular rere-arch of the north doorway, which may be later), are the responds of the chancel arch. These, with one order of nook shafts (that on the south now missing) and cushion capitals, lean outwards and now support a thirteenth-century chancel arch of two chamfered orders. At the other end of the nave the tower arch has semi octagonal responds and two chamfers round the arch. The sill of the west window comes down to form a seat. The nave roof is all of 1886 with collars and struts to each of the six bays. The doorway giving access to the tower stair is on the north side of the tower arch.
The arch to the north transept has two chamfers of which the outer runs down to the floor and the inner is carried on semi-circular shafts against the responds with moulded capitals decorated with nail-head. There are heads at the stops of the moulded hood. The transept is the most refined part of the church, and its walls are united by a stringcourse which encircles the interior at sill level. The north window has foliate stops to the inner hood, that on the right with a green man peering through the leaves. The east and west windows are equally fine and are both of the same design, with a rere-arch on colonettes with foliate capitals which terminate at heads below. Inside, as outside, the tracery is emphasised by a roll-moulding along all the edges.
The chancel is long and dignified with a rere-arch to the east window supported on corbels carved with leafy heads and nailhead. In the north wall the first lancet from the east is set within a trefoiled rere arch but the other two are plain. On the south side, the eastern pair of trefoil-headed lancets and set within a cinquefoiled arch but again the two further west are quite plain. The floor has one step at the chancel arch, and one at the communion rails. The roof, which is of 1886, has arched braces. In the south wall of the sanctuary is a piscina with a quatrefoil drain under a trefoiled arch.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
c.1880
The altar is of pine.
Font (object)
The font is Perpendicular, octagonal with fleurons in quatrefoils round the bowl and a simply moulded stem.
Reredos
The reredos is a curtain of a Watts-like fabric.
Pulpit
The pulpit is hexagonal with small strapwork Jacobean panels above larger eighteenth-century panels, all of oak.
Lectern
c.1930
The lectern is an astonishing confection of c.1930 made up of balusters from Elizabethan table legs of bedposts.
Bells
Nominal: 1457.5 Hz Weight: 364 lbs Diameter: 25.75" Bell 2 of 4
Founded by Abel Rudhall 1739
Dove Bell ID: 19615 Tower ID: 10832 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Nominal: 1159.5 Hz Weight: 476 lbs Diameter: 28.5" Bell 3 of 4
Founded by Wokingham foundry
Dove Bell ID: 19616 Tower ID: 10832 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Nominal: 3057.5 Hz Diameter: 10" Bell 4 of 4
Founded by Edward Neale 1666
Dove Bell ID: 19617 Tower ID: 10832 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Churchyard
Grid reference: SP 202 52
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Submit a change
If you notice something incorrect or missing, please explain it in the form below and submit it to our team for review.