Weight: 558 lbs Diameter: 30.63" Bell 1 of 5
Founded by Abraham I Rudhall 1716
Dove Bell ID: 2339 Tower ID: 12295 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Edgeworth: St Mary
Diocese of Gloucester
Church, 616010
http://erminwestbenefice.org.uk/our-churches/edgeworth/Overview
Grid reference: SO 948 59
St Mary’s is a building of high significance, set in a large churchyard next to the old manor house. Its significance lies above all in the medieval fabric and fittings. The earliest part of the building dates from the eleventh century and was enlarged in the late twelfth century, while the square west tower was added in the later Middle Ages. The church was extensively restored in 1869-72, when the internal walls were stripped of plaster and the roofs renewed. Most of the furnishings date from the 1870s restoration or later, but some early features survive, including some rare fifteenth-century timber bench ends.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Footprint of Church buildings: 177 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
There is an aisleless nave and chancel with a south nave porch and a west tower. The earliest part of the building is the west half of the nave, which dates from the eleventh century and was built as a small rectangular structure with north and south doors. One of the jambs of the blocked north door shows typical Saxon long and short work. The early building was enlarged to the east in the late twelfth century; the nave walls clearly show the break where the original nave was extended. At the same time a chancel was added with elaborately carved corbel tables on the north and south sides, and the south door of the nave was given an elaborate carved surround. A porch to shelter this door was added in the thirteenth century. Probably at the same time new windows were inserted at the east end of the nave and in the chancel side walls. The square west tower was added in the late fourteenth or fifteenth century.
The church was extensively restored in 1869-72 under the supervision of the Rector, the Revd. George Shaw. As part of the restoration the internal walls were stripped of plaster and ribbon-pointed. The floor was repaved with rectangular flagstones, with raised timber pew platforms provided in the nave.
At the west end of the nave a tall pointed arch with chamfered responds opens into the base of the tower. The chancel arch is of similar form but taller and wider. Both probably date from the late fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. The windows are all set in deep reveals; those in the chancel and the arches of the piscina and sedilia on the south chancel wall have cusped inner arches which were inserted as part of the restoration works. The open timber rafter roofs over the nave and chancel have braced collars and probably date from 1870, when the vestry minutes record extensive roof repairs. Most of the interior furnishings date from the 1870s restoration or later, but some early features survive.
Exterior Description
The church is built of local limestone, roughly squared and coursed in the nave. The pitched roofs of both nave and chancel are covered with stone slates.
Interior
Interior Description
Early furnishings of note include:
- Stained glass of the fourteenth century, now in chancel northwest window, showing a bishop, possibly Thomas Becket.
- Several carved fifteenth-century poppyhead oak bench ends at the west end of the nave.
- A simple trefoil-headed arched piscina in the south east wall of the nave.
- The stone font at the west end of the nave has an octagonal bowl with quatrefoil decoration on a traceried stem. The font has been clumsily relocated over a seventeenth-century ledger slab.
- Painted and framed royal arms of King George IV high on the south wall of the nave.
- Four modest eighteenth and nineteenth century wall tablets in the tower, probably moved from the chancel in the 1870s.
- The stone mensa of the altar probably dates from the twelfth century but was remounted on traceried stone supports in 1871.
Nineteenth century and later furnishings of interest include:
- Oak nave benches, made in 1872 ‘after the original pattern’ of the surviving earlier benches. The ends have small brass plates recording the allocation of seating, an unusual survival.
- Oak Gothic choir stalls and reading desk, installed in 1872.
- Brass wall-mounted candelabra in nave and chancel, designed by the Rev. George Young and installed in the 1870s.
- Timber Gothic rood screen and rood loft installed in the 1880s and served by a sixteenth-century stone stair in the chancel.
- Oak pulpit on a stone base, presented in 1885.
- Nineteenth and twentieth-century stained glass throughout the church, including the west window commemorating Sir William Tite, the Victorian architect and building contractor who died in 1873 (and to whom Verey/Brooks attribute the restoration of the building)
- Modern (1940s) brass memorial plaques in chancel.
- Modern textiles including the kneelers and a tapestry and carpet worked by Mary Heywood and Jane Harlow in 1992.
Bells
Weight: 354 lbs Diameter: 24.25" Bell 2 of 5
Founded by Abraham I Rudhall 1716
Dove Bell ID: 19836 Tower ID: 12295 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Weight: 408 lbs Diameter: 25.5" Bell 3 of 5
Founded by Abraham I Rudhall 1716
Dove Bell ID: 19837 Tower ID: 12295 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Weight: 436 lbs Diameter: 26.63" Bell 4 of 5
Founded by Abraham I Rudhall 1716
Dove Bell ID: 19838 Tower ID: 12295 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Weight: 501 lbs Diameter: 28.63" Bell 5 of 5
Founded by Abraham I Rudhall 1716
Dove Bell ID: 19839 Tower ID: 12295 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Churchyard
Grid reference: SO 948 59
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
Sources
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