Church of St Michael and All Angels

Details

SO 43 NW KINGSTONE CP -

4/27 Church of St Michael and All Angels

GV II*

Parish church. C12 with C13 and C14 alterations and extensions, partly rebuilt in mid-C18, restored 1842 and 1889. Sandstone rubble, sandstone dressings, stone slate and tiled roofs. Nave, chancel, north-west tower, north aisle, north chapel and south porch. West tower has three uninter- rupted stages, restored embattled parapet with ball-flower cornice below, top stage has 2-light ogeed bell-openings with quatrefoil tracery, second stage has one central lancet to north and west faces, trefoil head one-light window with label in ground floor stage of west side, north doorway (into tower) has 2-centred head, label with head stops of a priest to left and a king to right-hand side, door has elaborate strap hinges. North aisle has two restored windows each of two trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil tracery. North chapel has two early C13 lancets in the north wall and a 2-light window, with trefoils and ogees to each head in the east wall. Chancel has restored 3-light C19 east window, the east window of the south wall is of one light with a trefoiled head, the adjacent window to the west has two trefoil-headed lights, between the last two windows is a plaque inscribed "1762". Nave has two 2-light traceried windows each with trefoiled lights to left of the porch; to the right of the porch is a similar but plainer window without tracery but with a sun-dial incised beneath its label; west window has three stepped lights with restored flowing tracery, the doorway beneath has a 2-centred head and chamfered and moulded jambs. South porch is probably early C20 and timber-framed. South doorway is mid-C12, round head and projecting chamfered imposts, the door with decorative strap hinges. Interior has largely unrestored wagon roof to nave, possibly C14 or C15, which has received a central suspended collar purlin and brattished wall-plates in one of the restorations; chancel roof is similar but restored; north aisle has restored-curved braced collar-truss roof with another central purlin; north chapel has similar roof to the last but little restored. Three-bay arcade separates nave from north aisle which is continued in two further bays beyond the chancel arch to divide chancel from north chapel. Nave arcade has double chamfered 2-centred arches, circular piers with trumpet capitals and water-holding bases, the eastern pier beneath the chancel arch has trefoiled decoration to its capital and a carved bust on the west side; chancel arcade also has a carved bust on west side of central pier and east respond. Chancel arch is double chamfered, supported on north side by foliated capital and on south by two corbels, one beneath the other. Tower arch is two centred with double chamfers, label and semi-octagonal responds. Piscina in north chapel has chamfered 2-centred head and circular drain. Recess in north wall of north aisle has chamfered 2-centred head, probably for a tomb. Font has plain bulbous bowl of marble supported on moulded stem. Chest possibly C13 about 8½ feet long, at east end of nave and north aisle is a dug-out with two unequal lids, decorative reinforce- ments and strap hinges. Several wall monuments including that for Richard Russell, died 1717, on east side of south-east pier of tower in the form of an aedicule; for John Parry, died 1689, consisting of a tapered slab with foliated cross placed against north wall of north aisle; for Mary Parry, died 1780, on north wall of north chapel, a Neo-Classical white oval plaque with urn on a brown marble ground donated by Charles Morgan of Tredegor; adjacent a monument to Thomas Parry, died 1774, by T Symonds of Hereford for Mary Parry, relic; also by Symonds on north wall of chancel a monument for Armclah Russell, 1773. Several floor slabs late C17 to early C19. Communion table in north chapel is late C17 or early C18 with turned legs and moulded rails. Stained glass in east window of chancel, late C19 for Archdeacon Wetherall at the bequest of his widow depicts the Parable of the Lost Sheep; east window of south wall shows St Michael; adjacent window to west is of the Holy Family signed Alfred D Hemmiraq, 1894. Bell-ringing platform finished 1985 has plaque alongside in tower commemorating "a peal of 5040 doubles by the Hereford Diocesan Guild of Bell Ringers for the wedding of HRH Princess Margaret and Mr Anthony Armstrong-Jones, Friday May 6th 1960 in two hours fifty minutes"; also in tower water colour perspective of proposed restoration with the caption:

CHURCH OF S MICHAEL: KINGSTONE: HEREFORD NORTH EAST VIEW AS RESTORED NOCKALLS: J: COTTINGHAM: ARCHITECT: LONDON: 1848

(RCHM, Vol I, p 161 - 163).

Listing NGR: SO4244435699

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

155079

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Inventory of Herefordshire I South West, (1931), 161-3

End of official list entry

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