Church of St Mary the Virgin

Details

SJ 5521 SHAWBURY C.P. CHURCH STREET (east side)

19/112 Church of Saint Mary 28.10.60 the Virgin

GV I

Parish church. Late C12 nave and south aisle, C13 chancel, north aisle rebuilt in late C15, north chapel and tower, and late C17 porch. Alterations and restoration dated 1603 and 1875. Dressed red and grey sandstone and yellow/grey sandstone ashlar. Plain tile roofs. Nave and aisles of 2½ bays, chancel and north chapel, north porch, and west tower. Tower: 2 tall external stages with canted stair turret to south-east. Chamfered plinth, angle buttresses with chamfered offsets and leading into diagonal buttreses to belfry, moulded string course with carved blocks, quatrefoil frieze to parapet string course with carved blocks and gargoyles, and battlemented parapet with moulded coping and 8 crocketed pinnacles. Pyramidal lead cap with weathervane. Louvred belfry openings of 2 trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil tracery, chamfered reveals, and hoodmoulds with carved stops. Quatrefoil sound holes beneath belfry openings with chamfered square reveals and returned hoodmoulds; clock over sound hole to north. West window of 3 trefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery, chamfered reveals, and hoodmould with chamfered stops. Small corbelled ogee-headed niche to north with the name "Thomas Chorlton" (probably the patron) on a shield beneath. Nave and aisles: chamfered plinths, parapeted gable ends with plain copings and shaped kneelers. South side: pilaster buttresses. Small C12 round-arched window to right. C19 window off-centre to right of 2 cinquefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil tracery, and C19 cinquefoil-headed chamfered lancet to left. Pilaster buttresses flanking late C12 round-arched doorway off-centre to left with chamfered reveals, one order of shafts with moulded bases and foliage- carved capitals, 2 orders of carved ornament around arch (chevron and other) and remains of hoodmould; C19 boarded door with strap hinges. Right-hand return front: C14 window of 2 trefoil-headed lights with Y-tracery. North side: buttresses with chamfered offsets, diagonal buttress to left. Square-headed window off-centre to right of 3 cinquefoil- headed lights and with chamfered reveals. Inserted probably late C18 blocked round-arched doorway with chamfered reveals to north chapel off-centre to left (possibly former entrance to a squire's pew). C12 depressed- arched doorway to right with chamfered reveals, one order of shafts with moulded bases and foliage-carved capitals, chamfered imposts and roll- moulded arch with nailhead ornament; probably C15 or C16 nail-studded boarded door with strap hinges. Late C17 ashlar porch with chamfered rustication, round-arched entrance with archivolt, flanking rusticated pilasters with moulded bases and capitals and parapeted gable with moulded kneelers, plain coping with flanking scrolls, and cross at apex. Left- hand return front of aisle: C15 window of 3 trefoiled ogee-headed lights with panelled tracery, chamfered reveals and returned hoodmould (possibly altered from 2-light window - see stubs of mullions in cill). East gable end of nave with pair of double-chamfered square windows of c.1603. Chancel: parapeted gable end with shaped kneelers; south side: 3 ashlar buttresses with chamfered offsets; late C18 left-hand buttress with upper part carved to represent obelisk-type memorial tablet (no inscription at time of survey - January 1986). Square-headed window to left of 2 cinquefoil-headed lights. Square-headed C19 window to right of 2 cinquefoil-headed lights with depressed Y-tracery and chamfered reveals. Blocked moulded C13 priest's doorway off-centre to left (partly obscured by left-hand buttress). North side: C13 blocked chamfered lancet to right and central C19 chamfered round-arched window of 2 cinquefoil- headed lights. East end: large C15 window of 5 cinquefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery and returned hoodmould. Interior: 2 late C12 arcades of 21 bays (west end truncated by later tower) consistihg of circular piers with moulded bases and capitals carved with small scallops, foliage and beads (south-east), round arches with small chamfer and continuous hoodmould with carved heads as stops. Tall tower arch with continuous double chamfer with bell-shaped bases. Chamfered four-centered arched doorway to stair turret. 3-bay nave roof of c.1603 consisting of chamfered arch-braced collar trusses springing from stone corbels; pairs of purlins with wind braces. C18 or C19 king post roof to north aisle. South aisle with round rear arch to south door and square surrounds to remains of piscina. C13 chancel arch consisting of half-round inner shafts with capitals and moulded arch, and continuous outer chamfer. Arch to north chapel consisting of half-octagonal pier to left with chamfered base and capital, and double chamfered arch, dying into right-hand respond. Probably C17 three-bay chancel roof consisting of arch-braced collar trusses with central pendants and struts above collar, and springing from hammerbeams with carved angels; 2 pairs of purlins with wind braces. Blocked C13 south door to chancel with blocked C13 window to left. Small recess in south wall,possibly former piscina or aumbry. Large chamber in east wall, possibly former aumbry or reliquary. Fittings: carved oak reredos presented in 1881 by Miss Corbet of Acton Reynald. Late C19 choir stalls and vicar's pew. Late C19 eagle lectern. Octagonal wooden pulpit dated 1612 with fluted recessed panels (2 high), guilloche ornament, moulded cornice, tapered base with lozenge ornament and steps with fluted newel. Late C19 pews. C12 stone tub font with bands of geometrical ornament, moulded base and lead lining. Probably C17 iron- bound poor box by north door. C17 table in south aisle with tapered legs and carving. Plain C17 or C18 parish chest and 3 large benefactors' boards beneath tower (one dated 1737). Brass chandelier presented by Mr Richard Hill in 1776. Stained glass: fragments of C14 or C15 glass in south window of chancel including a Virgin of the Annunciation. Monuments: medieval coffin slab on wall west of north door with a cross of the crosslet type and the initials "EC KP". Tablet in chancel to Lucy Minor (d.1832) consisting of a sarcophagus topped by an urn and with crossed palms and a shield below. Dates inscribed in wall above chancel arch, including 1875 and to the left 1603 with the initials: "WHMP". The roof was probably raised c.1603 and the windows in the eastern gable end of the nave inserted at the same time. There was formerly also a south porch, taken down in 1789. D.H.S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, part 8, pp.718-724; B.O.E., pp.24-2; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire (1905), pp.199-200.

Listing NGR: SJ5591721178

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

260107

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Cranage, DHS, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, (1908), 718-24
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Shropshire, (1958), 22-4
Kellys Directory in Herefordshire and Shropshire, (1905), 199-200

End of official list entry

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