St Wilfrid's Church and churchyard

Reasons for Designation

A parish church is a building, usually of roughly rectangular outline and containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate to its use for Christian worship by a secular community, whose members gather in it on Sundays and on the occasion of religious festivals. Children are initiated into the Christian religion at the church's font and the dead are buried in its churchyard. Parish churches were designed for congregational worship and are generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provides accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which is the main domain of the priest and contains the principal altar. Either or both parts are sometimes provided with aisles, giving additional accommodation or spaces for additional altars. Most parish churches also possess towers, generally at the west end, but central towers at the crossing of nave and chancel are not uncommon and some churches have a free-standing or irregularly sited tower. Many parish churches also possess transepts at the crossing of chancel and nave, and south or north porches are also common. The main periods of parish church foundation were in the 10th to 11th and 19th centuries. Most medieval churches were rebuilt and modified on a number of occasions and hence the visible fabric of the church will be of several different dates, with in some cases little fabric of the first church being still easily visible. Parish churches are found throughout England. Their distribution reflects the density of population at the time they were founded. In regions of dispersed settlement parishes were often large and churches less numerous. The densest clusters of parish churches were found in thriving medieval towns. A survey of 1625 reported the existence of nearly 9000 parish churches in England. New churches built in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries increased numbers to around 18,000 of which 17,000 remain in ecclesiastical use. Parish churches have always been major features of the landscape and a major focus of life for their parishioners. They provide important insights into medieval and later population levels or economic cycles, religious activity, artistic endeavour and technical achievement. A significant number of surviving examples are identified to be nationally important.

The earthwork, buried and standing remains of St Wilfrid's Church and churchyard are well-preserved and retain significant archaeological deposits. These will include important information about the structure, architectural style, ritual use and status of the church. The documented history of the site is particularly important in understanding the early medieval and subsequent settlement of the area and its status within the wider landscape. Taken as a whole St Wilfrid's Church and churchyard will greatly enhance our understanding of religion and economy during the medieval period and the position of these within the wider social landscape.

Details

The monument includes the earthwork, buried and standing remains of St Wilfrid's Church, Kinoulton. The site of the church lies in an isolated enclosure on a low mound approximately 1.5km from the centre of Kinoulton village. It is not known when the church was first built but it was certainly in existence by the 12th century when it is recorded that the church of Wilfrid at Kinoulton was granted to the church of St Peter of York and to Roger, the archbishop of York. Included in the grant was a garden, four oxgangs of land belonging to the church, a toft (homestead) and twelve acres of land with common pasture. It is believed that the church was built to serve the village of Kinoulton which would, at that time, have been situated near to the church but has since migrated to the east. In the early 16th century the Valor Ecclesiasticus valued the church at the yearly sum of 7 pounds, 18 shillings and 11 pence. However, by the late 18th century the church is described as being in ruin and a chapel, known as Newbolt Chapel and situated at the eastern end of the village, was instead used by the parishioners. A new church, situated in the centre of the existing village, is dedicated to Luke and was consecrated by the Archbishop of York on Monday 15th July 1793. The monument survives as a series of earthworks and buried remains with some upstanding gravestones. A series of turf covered banks in the centre of the enclosure mark out the buried remains of the church. The banks which survive up to a height of 0.5m, show the outline of a small building measuring approximately 20m by 10m. Internally, the building is divided into two areas by a bank which presumably serves to separate the nave from the chancel. A description of the earthworks written in the late 19th century suggests that the building also included a western tower, a south porch and possibly a south aisle. These features are no longer visible in the earthworks but remains of them will survive beneath the ground surface. To the south of the church is a raised mound which survives to a height of approximately 1.5m and slopes down on the southern side to the edge of the area of protection. The mound supports a number of gravestones which are Listed Grade II and laid out in small linear groups running roughly north to south. Most of the gravestones are of slate, date to the 17th and 18th centuries and were made by local craftsmen. In the late 20th century one of the grave stones was recorded as being one of the finest in the county. Slight earthworks are also visible in other areas of the monument particularly to the north of the church. These suggest further buried remains but their precise layout is difficult to define from the ground surface. All modern field boundary fences and gates are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath these is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

29982

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Throsby, J (ed), The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire by Robert Thoroton, (1790), 156
Godfrey, J T, Notes on the Churches of Nottinghamshire. Hundred of Bingham, (1907), 260-275
Wilkinson, R F, Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire in The Ruined and Lost Churches of Nottinghamshire, Vol. XLVI, (1942), 66-72

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