Church of St Mary

Details

SO 9623 and PRESTBURY MILL STREET SO 9723 (south side)

19/79 & 20/79 Church of St Mary

4.7.60

GV II*

Anglican parish church. C13, probably largely rebuilt C14, C15 Perpendicular, restored 1864-8 by G.E. Street. Ashlar with stone slate roof. Leaded roof to aisles. Plan; nave, north and south aisles with south porch, chancel with vestry on south and organ chamber/vestry on north. Buttressed south aisle lit by four pointed 2-light windows with quatrefoils. Four C19 three-light windows with trefoiled heads to C15 clerestory above. Pointed 3- light window with tracery and finely carved foliate stops at west end. Projecting south porch with pointed entrance and stopped hood. Stone bench seats within porch. Double C19 plank doors within moulded pointed-arched surround with keel-moulded engaged columns. C19 vestry at east end of south aisle with gable at right angles to chancel. Cross-mullioned window in gable end. North aisle. Three C19 two-light windows with pointed surrounds with tracery C19 plank north door within a moulded 4-centred arched surround. Two-light pointed window at west end. Three 3-light C19 clerestory windows. Chancel south wall, one pointed C19 two-light window with quatrefoil at top, similar window in north wall. Oval memorial plaque to left of the latter in memory of Grace De-la Bere, died 1746 and Elizabeth De la Bere, died 1753 with moulded margin and the remains of a painted heraldic shield at the top. C20 five-light east window comprising 5 graded lancets with stopped hood. Former Perpendicular 3-light east window with tracery at top reset in east facing gable end of the organ chamber. C19 two-light pointed window in north wall. Access to north vestry/organ chamber via a C19 plank door with an extension at right angles on the north side. Four-stage tower with large diagonal and small raking buttresses. Narrow lancets to lower 2 stages. Two-light belfry windows to third and fourth stages with stone louvres. Upper belfry windows with trefoil heads and quatrefoils. Battlemented parapet with gargoyles at each corner. Some merlons with heraldic shield decoration. Metal gnomon on south side. Single piece of moulded stonework built into tower base. Stone steps up to plank door to first floor stage of tower on the north side. Flat and stepped coping at gable ends. C15 bellcote at east end of the nave. Scraped interior. Four-bay nave with north and south aisles. Chancel with organ chamber on north and Lady Chapel/vestry on south. Tower at west end. Octagonal piers to 6-bay nave arade with moulded capitals and bases and hollow-chamfered pointed arches. C15 chancel arch rising from engaged octagonal piers. Half arches, acting as flying buttresses to chancel arch divide the north and south aisle from the organ chamber and Lady Chapel respectively. Chancel; 2 pointed arches with a stone screen comprising cinquefoil-headed arches on north side of chancel. Single C19 pointed arch from chancel to chapel with a similar stone screen at bottom. C19 roof to nave with simple braced collar beam trusses. Wagon roof to chancel. Plank flooring with coloured tile and grey slate in the aisles. Simple stoup inside south door. C19 figure of Virgin and Child over south door. Basket-headed archway to right of chancel arch formerly giving access to hood screen now replaced by simple rood beam. C14 double piscina, comprising 2 cinquefoil-headed niches both with credence shelves. Left-hand piscina with drain. Three 4-petalled flowers below. Small carved aumbry door (probably early C18) with carved decoration. Fixtures and fittings; C19 marble font inside south door decorated with painted figures. Early C20 pews and choir stalls. Early C20 wooden pulpit with finely carved detail. Screen divides south aisle from the chapel. Monuments; Monument to Edward Hotheway and Amy his wife, he died 1754, she died 1747: white marble tablet on pier of northern nave arcade with palm leaf fronds at bottom and brackets with foliate decoration either side. Two C19 monuments to members of the De la Bere family and three other C19 white or black marble monuments at west end of the south aisle. Finely carved C19 white marble monument depicting the Virgin and Child at east end of the vestry. Monument to Christopher Capel, Gent, died 1740 and Sarah his wife, died 1733: white marble plaque with floral swags either side. Pair of winged cherub's heads at top. Segmental-headed pediment containing a skull at top. Painted heraldic shield flanked by putti. Three C19 monuments to members of the Agg family on south wall of chancel. West window of north aisle by Kempe 1877. Three windows by Lawrence Lee 1963-7. C20 east window. C19 glass to clerestory. Decoratively painted organ installed in organ chamber in 1864. (David Verey, The Buildings of England; The Vale and the Forest of Dean, 1980; and V.C.H., Vol VIII, p79)

Listing NGR: SO9699223992

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

134487

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 2 The Vale and The Forest of Dean, (1970)
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester, (1969), 79

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.