Church of St Michael

Details

SJ 4013-4113 FORD C.P. FORD

13/55 Church of St. Michael 13.6.58

GV II

Parish church. Circa 1200 with early C14 and mid-C19 alterations; restored, enlarged and partly rebuilt in 1875 by E. Haycock of Shrewsbury. Squared and coursed Alberbury breccia and red sandstone rubble with red and grey sandstone dressings; plain tile roof. Nave and chancel in one; mid-C19 former west porch and late C19 south porch, lean-to north aisle and vestry, and western bellcote. Parapeted gable ends, with cross at apex to east; small lead-covered conical finial at junction of nave and chancel; C19 stack to vestry: chamfered to square shaft with chamfered corners and chamfered top; gabled western bellcote with 2 chamfered cinquefoil-headed openings, battered sides, chamfered offset, and gable string. South side: 2 large buttresses with chamfered offsets; C19 cinquefoil-headed chamfered lancet to left with hoodmould; central C19 window consisting of 2 cinquefoil-headed chamfered lancets flanking lower trefoil-headed chamfered lancet with cusped curved-sided triangular light above, and returned hoodmould overall; small reset C13 chamfered lancet to left of central window; C19 window to right with 2 chamfered cinquefoil-headed lights, Y-tracery and hoodmould with carved stops; c.1200 roll-moulded round-arched south doorway off-centre to left has pair of C19 boarded doors with strap hinges; C19 porch with chamfered plinth, continuously- moulded arched entrance with hoodmould and carved stops, and gable with 2 strings, small lancet opening, and cross at apex; left-hand return front has star-shaped quatrefoil window with chamfered surround lighting small chamfered Caernarvon-arched seat recess within; C13 priest's doorway off- centre to right with continuously chamfered arch and C19 boarded door with strap hinges; straight joint to left of priest's door; north side: 5 bayswith dividing buttresses; windows with 3 quatrefoil- or cinquefoil- headed chamfered lights, except for one single light; left-hand end with trefoil-headed diamond-leaded lancet and right-hand end has window with 2 trefoil-headed chamfered lights and vesica-shaped quatrefoil plate tracery above; west end: buttress to left; gabled former porch with coved eaves, parapeted gable end with shaped footstones, and west window with moulded cill; 2 quatrefoil headed chamfered lights, trefoiled tracery, and returned hoodmould with carved stops; east end: chamfered plinth and large diagonal buttresses with chamfered offsets; late C19 three light window consisting of cinquefoil-headed chamfered lights flanking taller trefoil-headed chamfered light, chamfered reveals with stops, moulded cill, and hoodmould with carved stops. Interior: 3+2 baysC15 roof; hammer-beam trusses arch-braced to collar, truss at junction of nave and chancel with chamfered and ogee-stopped tie-beam and collar above, and collar and tie-beam truss at west end of nave with raking struts; pairs of purlins and pierced cusped wind braces, farming quatrefoil patterns; 1875 four-bay north aisle arcade: octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases, double-chamfered arches, and continuous hoodmould with carved stops; arch at west end of nave to former porch with double chamfer dying into responds and hoodmould with carved stops; west window with chamfered rear arch; nave right-hand south window with shouldered rear-arch and C13 lancet with round rear arch; north aisle with chamfered rear-arches, west window with trefoiled rear-arch, and chamfered arch at east end to organ chamber; part of chancel north wall projecting above corbels; organ chamber has moulded arch dying into chamfered responds and hoodmould with carved stops; C19 chamfered rear- arch to priest's doorway chamfered shouldered arch to sedile, east window with chamfered rear arch and hoodmould with carved stops. Fittings: reredos, given by R. N. Pemberton (perpetual curate 1817-19): made up from C17 panels and some carved pieces probably Flemish of c.1530 including 4 large figures and a smaller Madonna and Child; C17 chair; C19 wooden altar rails; choir stalls of c.1937; C15 chancel screen partly restored in 1875, with cusped ogee lights and moulded cornice; c.1937 octagonal wooden pulpit with traceried panels; pews of 1875; c.1937 south doorcase with traceried-panelled doors and carved vine trail frieze; c.1875 octagonal stone font with moulded base, raised crosses on alternate sides of bowl, moulded top and wooden cover with wrought ironwork; C19 lamps with brass brackets and glass covers; probably C18 painted royal coat of arms on north wall of nave; early C19 painted communion boards in former west porch. 3 late C18 memorial tablets to the Ambler family. There are two C20 paintings of the church as it was or might have been in the C18 or early C19. The chancel was rebuilt in 1832 when the triple-lancet east window was replaced by a rectangular mullioned 3-light window. This was in turn replaced in 1875. The south door was blocked in the mid-C19 and a west porch erected which might also have served as a vestry. The south door was reinstated in 1875. Box pews, pulpit and reading desk, a baluster font and west gallery were all replaced in 1875. The 1875 restoration and alterations cost £1,400. V.C.H., Vol. VIII, pp.236-7; B.O.E., p.131; D. H. S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Part 6, pp.526-7; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire (1905), pp.98-9; Guide to St. Michael's Church, Ford.

Listing NGR: SJ4121813857

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

258960

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Cranage, DHS, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, (1908)
Guide to St Michaels Church Ford, ()
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Shropshire, (1908), 236-7
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Shropshire, (1958), 131

End of official list entry

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