Weight: 113 lbs Diameter: 17.5" Bell 1 of 2
Founded by Joseph Smith 1710
Dove Bell ID: 61801 Tower ID: 24501 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Weeford: St Mary the Virgin
Diocese of Lichfield
Church, 620043
http://www.ourvillagechurch.org.uk/Overview
Grid reference: SK 141 38
It seems that the original Wyatt church had no chancel, or at best a short arm or possibly an apse. The walls are built of large rectangular blocks of smooth ashlar of a strong red colour, with diagonal buttresses at each corner. The two windows in each of the north and south walls are slender lancets with chamfered reveals but hollow mouldings round the four-centred heads.
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Aisleless nave with west porch capped by a bell-cote, crossing with wide and shallow transepts; the chancel has an organ chamber and vestry placed transeptally on the north side. Entrance is by the west door, although there is also a vestry door and priest's door in the south chancel wall.
Footprint of Church buildings: 229 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
Probably by Benjamin Wyatt and James Wyatt, 1802-3. The Wyatt family, local to this parish, included a very large number of achitects, surveyors, sculptors, builders, engineers and painters.
Exterior Description
It seems that the original Wyatt church had no chancel, or at best a short arm or possibly an apse. The walls are built of large rectangular blocks of smooth ashlar of a strong red colour, with diagonal buttresses at each corner. The two windows in each of the north and south walls are slender lancets with chamfered reveals but hollow mouldings round the four-centred heads. The transepts, in contrast, are lit by large windows with two-centred heads, that on the north filled with minimal tracery at a later date when stained glass was inserted. The south window has a large panel of foreign stained glass in a clear ground. The slopes of the roof are of moderate pitch, and the walls stand on a scarcely-defined plinth.
At the west end, the door is housed in a westward extension slightly narrower than the nave, and correspondingly lower but with a similar roof pitch. The doorway is four-centred, with a two-leaved door, and a round-hoaded window above lighting the ringing chamber. A similar light in the north wall lights the staircase by which this is approached. The central part of the gable continues up to form a square turret pierced on all four faces by a slender slit opening.
The chancel is in a brusquely different vein. Its outline contrasts with that of the earlier work because of the steep slope of the roof, in keeping with the thirteenth-century style which has been used. The walls, moreover, are faced with rock-cut stone in marked apposition to the ashlar of nave and transepts. In the south wall are two lancets with trefoiled heads and moulded hoods. Between these is a priest's doorway, also with a moulded hood. The east window has three main lights and simple Decorated tracery, and there is a further trefoil headed lancet in the north wall.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
c.1883
The east window depicts the Crucifixion (with a Pieta below), flanked by The Baptism of Christ and The Ascension.
Stained Glass
c.1883
South Chancel I: The Annunciation.
Stained Glass
1904
South Chancel II: Raphael.
Stained Glass
c.1889
North Chancel I: Christ calling his disciples.
Stained Glass
South transept: Single panel, representing Pontius Pilate washing his Hands at The Trial of Christ. Considered the most significant glass in the building.
Stained Glass
c.1880
North transept: The Four Evangelists and their symbols, Christ above.
Stained Glass
1859
Nave south I: Nativity, Baptism of Christ, The Last Supper.
Stained Glass
Nave north I: Gethsemane, Via Dolorosa and Ascension.
Stained Glass
1932
Nave south II: Christ the light of the World, by Maile and Son, Euston Road.
Stained Glass
1948
Nave north II: Christ the Good Shepherd, commemorating a death in 1948.
Building Materials
Sandstone
1802
Sherwood Sandstone
Interior
Interior Description
The inner doorway is shaped like the outer, with a four-centred arch simply chamfered. The entrance to the now-vanished gallery is now glazed, and takes the form of a tall narrow arch framed by a wooden arch under a gablet.
The crossing is one step higher than the nave, a thin but carefully designed rib vault, the intersections of the moulded ribs decorated with carved stone bosses, and the whole framed by arches to nave, chancel and transepts with stonework exposed. The north and south transepts are architecturally unremarkable, save for their wide and rather shallow proportions.
The chancel, internally as externally, clashes with the building to which it was attached. At the entrance are two steps, and beyond them the floor is paved with encaustic tiles of familiar and unremarkable design. All the windows are filled with stained glass and the stonework of the reveals is left exposed with the whitewash of the walls leaving jagged frames round each. The roof is not divided into bays, but the close spacing of the rafters, each with tie- beams and braces, gives the effect of a seven-faced vault.
Fixtures and fittings
Pulpit
c.1913
The pulpit is an oak octagon.
Lectern
The lectern is of oak.
Rail
The communion rails have oak horizontal and wrought iron uprights of attractive design incorporating a cross within a circle and scrolling brackets.
Altar
The altar table is of oak, simple.
Organ (object)
The organ is a two manual instrument, without a builder's nameplate; the action is tracker, and the number of speaking stops is ten.
Font (object)
The font may be by Wyatt, and has shields in quatrefoils round the bowl and an octagonal stem; it may be of Conde Stone.
Bells
Weight: 152 lbs Diameter: 19.5" Bell 2 of 2
Founded by Joseph Smith
Dove Bell ID: 61802 Tower ID: 24501 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Churchyard
Grid reference: SK 141 38
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
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
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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