Church of St Mary and Corpus Christi

Details

So 82 SE DOWN HATHERLEY DOWN HATHERLEY VILLAGE

6/21 Church of St. Mary and Corpus Christi

10.1.55

GV II*

Anglican parish church. C15 Perpendicular tower otherwise rebuilt c1860 by Fulljames and Waller of Gloucester. Tower, coursed, squared and dressed limestone, church otherwise coursed, rock-faced limestone. Plan; nave and south aisle with projecting porch, chancel with vestry and organ chamber on south, west tower. Two- stage west tower with diagonal buttresses, plinth with moulded capping, moulded string between stages. C19 plank door west wall with decorative strap hinges, 'Tudor'-arched 3-light window with Perpendicular tracery, moulded surround and stopped hood over. 2- light belfry windows with 'Tudor'-arched surrounds and stone louvres in all 4 faces of tower. Embattlemented parapet with moulded string below and gargoyles at each corner. Scratch sundial high up on south-east buttress. Buttressed nave lit by four 2- light C19 windows with tracery and hoods with carved head stops. Chancel south wall; one single and one 2-light window in rectangular surrounds with quatrefoils at the top of each light. Three-light pointed east window with tracery and hood with head stops. C19 plank door in pointed surround in north wall of vestry, 3 trefoil-headed lights right. Single lights with trefoil heads lighting south wall of vestry and organ chamber respectively. Buttressed south aisle, single pointed windows with tracery and hoods with head stops left and right of porch. Circular window high up at east end of south aisle with tracery based on 5-pointed star; small trefoil light high up in west gable-end. Projecting porch with open trefoil-headed timber arch at entrance, slab seats along inside walls. Church roof; slightly stepped gable-end coping with triangular kneelers. Cross saddles on vestry, chancel and nave, cross finial in addition on chancel and formerly also on nave. Interior: pointed chancel arch with ballflower decoration; 4-bay nave arcade with circular piers each with 4 engaged columns with foliate capitals. Tall pointed double-chamfered C15 arch to west tower now blocked C19 wooden screen. Plank door within pointed flat-chamfered surround with hood with foliate stops from chancel to vestry. Plain tile floor in nave and south aisle, similar flooring in chancel with some decorative encaustic tiles below sanctuary. Decorative encaustic tiling in sanctuary. C19 arch- braced hammer-beam roof to nave with stone corbels decorated with naturalistic foliate carving. Arch-braced roof to chancel with engaged projecting colonette supports with carved angel or foliate decoration. Fittings; small circular late Tudor lead font, probably originally of larger diameter with raised acanthus, star, sun and lozenge decoration, C19 sandstone base with foliate decoration, circular wooden C19 lid with upstanding wrought iron decoration. Early wooden chest with 3 locks and later lid west of font. Octagonal stone pulpit with circular roundels outlined with crocketed decoration, and panels finely carved floral or leaf decoration. Monuments; memorial to Sir Matthew Wood, Baronet M.P., of Hatherley House, (q.v. Hatherley Court Hotel), died 1843 and Dame Maria his wife set back in trefoil-headed niches right of altar, freestanding marble column on left between memorial and adjacent window. Monuments: hatchment at west end of nave, two hatchments in tower from the funeral of Sir Matthew Wood and four monuments removed, to tower during C19 rebuilding. Top left; monument to Elizabeth Bathurst Gibbs, died 1763, white marble on cream background with triangular pediment containing heraldic shield, urn at apex. Top right, late C17 monument to Hester Evans, wife of Henry Brett of Hatherley and other members of the Brett family, limestone with heraldic cherubs head with oval plaque at bottom. Monument lower left to Louisa Woodbridge Turner, died 1821, marble with urn in relief against grey background above. Monument lower right to Thomas Loveday, died 1804. Small white oval plaque on black background. C19 stained glass in memory of members of the Maddy family in chancel, two stained glass windows in nave. (David Verey, The Buildings of England; Gloucestershire: The Vale and the Forest of Dean, 1980).

Listing NGR: SO8678722484

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

134141

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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