Church of St Mary

Details

GREAT WITCOMBE GREAT WITCOMBE VILLAGE SO 91 SW

7/93 Church of St Mary

4.7.60

GV I

Anglican parish church. C12, C15 and mid C18. Nave: random squared and dressed limestone. Tower, porch south wall of chancel and north aisle: ashlar. East and west walls of chancel: coursed squared and dressed limestone; stone slate roof. Plan: nave with north aisle and south porch, chancel and west tower. Nave south wall: 2 large C19 round-headed windows; flat-roofed mid C18 porch in the same style as the tower to the left, with double cast iron gates with urn finials within a trefoil-headed opening with imposts and ogee-curved architrave which curves up towards an upright cross finial; blind quatrefoil either side; small round-headed window with diamond leaded panes to the left. Two small Tudor-arched single-light windows at the east end above the level of the chancel roof. South wall of chancel: two lancet windows flanking a C19 priest's door within a pointed-arched surround; two reused pieces of C12 stonework with diaper decoration suggests the chancel was rebuilt during the C13; wide lancet with moulded hood at the east end. Buttressed north aisle: rectangular 3-light window with Perpendiculatr tracery at the east end; 2 similar windows to the north wall; early plank door far right within a moulded Tudor-arched surround with carved spandrels and hood with diamond stops; 2-light pointed window with quatrefoil at the west end may be in the blocking of a former doorway. Three-stage tower built 1749-52. Masons John Bryan of Painswick and Joseph Bryan of Gloucester; 3-light pointed window on the west side; clock above partly covering a blocked trefoil- headed 2-light window above; similar but blind window on the north. Interior: 3-bay Perpendicular nave arcade with octagonal piers, moulded capitals and double-chamfered pointed arches. Plastered wagon roof to the nave with panelling with finely carved foliate bosses and brattishing at the east end; C20 panelled wagon roof to the chancel; simple tie beams and canted plastered roof to the north aisle; flagged floor. C12 chancel arch with plain inner arch and chevroned outer arch rising from engaged jamb shafts with scalloped capitals; cambered rood beam formerly reached via a flight of steps; tall C18 round-headed chancel arch; small Tudor- arched doorway to tower stairs to the right. Furniture and fittings: C19 copy of the C12 font at Lasborough comprising a simple stone bowl, at the west end of the nave arcade. Late C19- early C20 pews and choir stalls. Octagonal wooden pulpit made from carved C17 panelling and barley-twist balusters from the.old manor house at Witcombe Park. Small C17 carved wooden box with the Dragon motif-on-the front beside the pulpit. Communion rails with widely spaced barley-twist balusters probably also from the old manor house. Small C17 communion table with turned legs and inscriptions 'LOVE AS BRETHEREN 1688 / DOE THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF MEE / BE YE ALL OF ONE MINDE' in relief on 3 sides. C19 reredos, made- in 1904 from panels from a house in Gloucester; aumbry with wooden door to the left; two hanging iron ball candelabra. Monuments: 2 ledgers to members of the Hicks family, one mid C18 one dated 1801 in the floor of the chancel. Eight marble monuments to members of the Hicks family on the walls of the chancel, two C18, five C19; one C20 Royal arms of George III and C19 wooden commandment board in the north aisle. Fragments of C15 stained glass in the tracery of the windows of the north aisle. C19 stained glass to the windows of the nave and chancel. (D. Verey, The Buildings of England: The Vale and the Forest of Dean, 1980)

Listing NGR: SO9105414795

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

135043

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 2 The Vale and The Forest of Dean, (1970)

End of official list entry

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