Church of St Michael

Details

BOCKLETON CP BOCKLETON SO 56 SE 5/2 Church of St Michael 18.4.66

GV II*

Parish church. C12, altered mid-C13 with additions of circa 1560 and C17; restored in 1862 by Woodyer. Sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings; stone- tiled roof laid in diminishing courses with parapets and cross-finials at east gable ends. West tower, four-bay nave with opposing north/south door- ways and two-bay chancel with north chapel. West tower: added late C16 to early C17. Three diminishing stages with battered plinth and divided by strings. Lower stage has an original Y-tracery west window and a later north doorway with a segmental head. There is a circular west window on the second stage. The belfry stage has pairs of cusped, pointed, louvred bell chamber openings and above is an embattled parapet. Nave: easternmost bay is expressed externally by pilaster buttresses and both elevations have a C13 window of three stepped cusped lights with a hoodmould. To the west of these in both walls are two original round-headed windows which flank the doorways. Both doorways project and are surmounted by a blind arcade. The north doorway is of two orders with two large roll mouldings between cable mouldings with an outer band of embattled and lozenge enrichment. The jambs have detached shafts with scalloped capitals and the spandrels have a vertical billet moulding on each side and are carved with flowers in circles. The arcade above is of five bays, stands upon an enriched string course; the arches are enriched and their outer mouldings intersect. The south doorway is of a single order with a four-bay blind arcade but otherwise similarly detailed. The enriched string course beneath the blind arcades is continued as a chamfered and quirked string course which is stopped on each side of the windows and buttresses. The north string is discontinued to the west of the doorway. Chancel: mid-C13. The east end has angle corner buttresses and a C19 window of five lights with a hoodmould and block stops and a sill string. The south elevation has two C13 pairs of cusped lancets with hoodmoulds and, between them, a blocked C13 doorway also with a hoodmould. The north chapel dates from circa 1560. It has a 3-light east window and two 2-light north windows; all are C19 and have hoodmoulds. At the west gable end is a cusped pointed doorway and there is a cusped lancet in the gable apex; these are also of C19 date. Interior: chancel has a C19 arcade of two bays with a central circular column and two pointed arches opening onto the chapel. West of the arcade is a C16 tomb recess with a segmental head and roll moulding (possibly part of the original chancel arch). Nave and chancel have ashlared collar rafter roofs; west part of chancel roof and collar and tie-beam truss in chancel are possibly original. Stone reredos with foliated carving, piscina and sedilia are C19. Traceried, arcaded timber chancel screen, circular font with head reliefs and arcaded detailing and three-sided timber pulpit, all C19. Memorials: Barneby memorials in north chapel include tomb chest with demi- figures and shields with two elaborately carved recumbent effigies of Richard Barneby, died 1597, and his wife Mary, died 1574. On wall behind are figures of five sons and four daughters in relief flanked by demi-figures. Also, large marble memorial to Charles Baldwyn, died 1706, and tomb chest to William Wolstenholme Prescott by Woolner of 1865. Glass: east window is by Kempe of c1905; also fragment of medieval glass in north-east nave window. (VCH IV, p 244-5; BoE, p 94).

Listing NGR: SO5930261428

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

150689

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Worcester, (1924), 244-5
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, (1968), 94

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.