Church of St Margaret

Details

BAGENDON BAGENDON VILLAGE SP 00 NW 6/7 Church of St Margaret 26.11.58

GV I

Anglican parish church. Possible Saxon origins; early-late C12; chancel rebuilt 1460-70; some rebuilding 1830; main restoration 1889 by S. Gambier-Parry. Chancel: limestone rubble retaining some early render (especially on the north), dressed stone quoins and plinth. Nave, north aisle and vestry: coursed squared and dressed limestone. Porch: coursed squared and dressed limestone with rubble returns. Tower: coursed squared and roughly dressed limestone, except at the base where the construction comprises large blocks of dressed limestone; stone slate roofing. Plan: nave, north aisle with vestry at right angles, chancel and west tower. The narrow walls of the nave suggest a possible Saxon origin for the church. Nave south wall: flat-chamfered plinth and single buttress; C14 two-light window with hood, to the left of the central porch; Perpendicular 2-light window with a rectangular casement-moulded surround to the right; C20 double doors within a 4-centred arched casement-moulded surround with large triangular stops within the porch. Chancel south wall: two 2-light Perpendicular windows with rectangular surrounds; 3-light 4- centred arched east window with stepped mouldings to the mullions; single 2-light Perpendicular north window with a rectangular surround and cinquefoil-headed lights. North aisle (extensively restored C19): Perpendicular east window with hollow-chamfered mullions and simple tracery; two C19 two-light stone-mullioned windows to the north wall (single similar window to the north- facing gable of the vestry) matching a late C16-early C17 window at the west gable end. Three-stage tower: lower stages C12 with C15 diagonal buttresses. Stone drain projects out on the north from the first floor priest's chamber. Three single-light windows with flat-chamfered surrounds to the ground floor, one window being cut into a single stone slab set within a flat-chamfered surround. Similar 2-light windows one with narrow pointed-headed lights to the stage above and to the belfry stage. The latter stage has two stone-mullioned windows in addition. Flat-chamfered strings between the stages. Gabled south porch (rebuilt 1962) with side buttresses and double-chamfered horse-shoe shaped entrance. Stone scratch sundial on the porch gable with an engaged ball finial above. Stone bench seats and C19 roof within the porch. All roofs ridged (including the tower) with stepped coping and roll-cross saddles, some with upright cross finials. Remains of a Medieval cross finial on the vestry. Church interior; plastered with 3-bay late C12 nave arcade with cylindrical piers, carved capitals and round arches with two chamfered orders and hoodmoulds. The capital of the east pier is mutilated possibly to accommodate a later parclose screen (now removed) to a north chantry chapel. Narrow round-headed tower arch (restored 1830) with the upper part of a flat-chamfered window, formerly opening into a priest's chamber, above. Perpendicular 4- centred chancel arch with moulded capitals (one mutilated). Late C18-early Cl9 wagon roofs to the nave and chancel. Parquet and red tile flooring, some encaustic tiling in the chancel. C19 cinquefoil-headed piscina with credence shelf in the south wall of the chancel. Early C11 font comprising a plain cylindrical bowl with a band around the top and a hollow moulding around the base of the bowl. C19 pews; Cl9 wooden pulpit with blind tracery. C19 wrought iron communion rail. Carolean communion rail with baluster legs. Monuments: C11 stone coffin lid with a raised cross (removed from the north aisle); one C17 and two C18 monuments, set vertically within the lower chamber of the tower. Another early coffin lid set within the outer wall of the spiral stairs rising from the base of the tower. North wall of north aisle; late C18- early C19 marble monument to members of the Bell family; oval marble monument to Ralph Oliffe, died 1762. Chancel; monument to the Reverend John Bythesea former rector, died 1845 (q.v. Bagendon House); monument to the Reverend Thomas Price former rector, died 1860 (both monuments by Lewis of Cheltenham); monument to William Huntington former rector, died 1757, below the latter, with broken pediment supported on pilasters. Stained glass: fragments of C15 stained glass in the windows on the south side of the chancel including fragments from a crucifix window and fragments depicting St Catherine's wheel, the Virgin, and the arms of some weavers. Early fragments in the north aisle east window. C19 stained glass in the windows of the north wall. North-west window by Kempe, 1890. North chancel window by hall, 1906. The advowson belonged to the Weavers' Guild in Cirencester during the period of the rebuilding of the chancel and chancel arch (c1460-70). (David Verey, The Buildings of England; The Cotswolds, 1979)

Listing NGR: SP0113106649

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

131031

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 1 The Cotswolds, (1970)

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.