Church of St Mary Magdalene

Details

SO 95 NW
6/153, 19/1

HIMBLETON CP
HIMBLETON
Church of St Mary Magdalene

14.03.69

GV

I
Parish church. C12 origins; altered mid C13, late C14, C15 and C16, restored in 1893. Mainly lias limestone rubble with sandstone ashlar dressings, and some dressed coursed sandstone rubble; oak-shingled timber-framed bell-turret; plain tiled roofs with parapets at gable ends. Continuous nave and chancel of three plus two bays; nave has bell-turret, south transept and porch, north aisle and vestry.

Nave: some original stonework in south wall; west and south west walls rebuilt in C15 and have stepped plinth and moulded eaves string; diagonal buttresses with off-sets at west end; three-light west window and two-light south window, both square-headed and, like similar windows elsewhere, are probably C16 with C19 repairs.

Bell turret: C15; lower part is shingled; belfry has rectangular panels with lower corner braces and roughcast infill; two-light louvred bell-chamber openings; above is a hipped roof and tall weathervane.

South transept: c1370 and built to house the Shell Chapel; chamfered plinth and diagonal gable end buttresses with off-sets, the south west buttress has a sundial carved on it; C14 south end and west side pointed-arched window, both of two lights, and three-light square-headed east side window.

South porch: also c1370; gabled and timber-framed with chamfered arch-braced gable end and inner roof truss, quatrefoil-panelled bargeboards and side walls with cusped arcading and brattished wall plate; south doorway has C12 jambs of two square orders with colonnettes in the angles, the west of which is C19, and a late C14 door divided by rails and muntins into quatrefoil panels.

North aisle: C16; separate gabled roof with octagonal ridge stack at west gable end; three-light and two two-light north windows, three-light east end and two-light west end window; all with square heads. Gabled passageway links aisle with separate vestry.

Vestry: late C19; cusped lancet in west gable end, central lancet in north wall, two-light west end window and south doorway. Chancel: rebuilt c1240; chamfered plinth on south side; C13 east window of three closely-spaced, stepped lancets; two north windows and south east window are all of two lights and original; south west pointed window is C19, and, to right of it, is a doorway.

INTERIOR: three-bay north arcade of two chamfered orders on octagonal columns; beyond east respond is a blocked doorway to the former rood stair; C14 transept archway of two continuous chamfered orders; square-headed door in south chancel wall; C16 north nave doorway with four-centred arch of a single chamfered order; C15 waggon roofs; chancel and transept wall plates, tie beams at base of turret and C19 rood beam are all brattished; nave wall plates are largely C19 and have a rosette frieze. Walls are plastered; traces of a wall painting of the royal arms of Queen Elizabeth I visible on east end wall; C17 oak altar table, font is partly C12, square in plan and has Paschal Lamb carved on east face; C18 small marble font on baluster stem in Shell Chapel; C19 altar rails, pews, pulpit and lectern.

Memorials: Shell Chapel has mid C18 wall memorial to the Fincher family, an early C19 wall memorial to the Payton family and ledger slabs of mid C17 and early C18 date all to members of the Fincher family; north aisle has a late C18 and early C19 wall memorial and a late C17 ledger slab to the Wythes family.

Glass: east window contains a C13 fragment, the rest being a good C19 imitation of a c1300 style; also medieval fragments in the north west chancel window, the north east aisle window and the east transept window; the east window of the aisle is by Kempe and c1900.

The church retains several interesting early architectural features, notably the bell-turret, roofs, south porch and door, and some good medieval glass.

Listing NGR: SO9466358757

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

147829

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Worcester, (1913), 395-7
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, (1968), 195

End of official list entry

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