Church of St Bartholomew

Details

GLAZELEY

823/28/8 GLAZELEY 09-MAR-70 CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW

II DATES OF MAIN PHASES, NAME OF ARCHITECT: Parish church built 1873-75 by A.W. Blomfield.

MATERIALS: Rock-faced grey sandstone with freestone dressings and quoins; tile roofs.

PLAN: Nave and slightly narrower chancel, under a single roof, with fleche, south porch and north organ chamber/vestry.

EXTERIOR: Simple Decorated-style church. The buttressed nave has two 2-light and two single-light windows in north and south walls, and 4-light west window. The south porch has a pointed arch to the entrance with continuous moulding, with similar south nave doorway. The square slate fleche is over the east end of the nave, and has timber-framed cusped arches in each face, and weathervane. The chancel has 2-light and single-light south windows. The 3-light east window has a stepped sill band. The organ chamber has a 2-light north window.

INTERIOR: The nave has a 4-bay arched-brace roof on corbelled wall posts. The division between nave and chancel is a full-height wooden screen with 3 tall arches, and a higher tier of arcading in the roof space. The chancel has a keeled wagon roof of slender ribs, boarded behind. Two unequal arches, with central round pier and broad quadrant moulding, lead into vestry and organ chamber. Walls are plastered and painted white. The floors are C19 tiles to nave, with raised wooden floors below the pews. The stepped chancel floor is concealed by carpets.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: Blomfield designed the font with its stem of clustered shafts and the polygonal pulpit with arcading. Simple pews have plain ends with moulded tops. The communion rail has well-spaced turned balusters. The east window shows the Adoration of the Shepherds, 1888 by C.E. Kempe. The war-memorial north nave window is by Joseph Wilson Forster, 1925, commemorating James Cooke who died in 1917: a white-clad youth kneels before the transfigured Christ, in a scene taken from a verse by Lord Lytton; the mauve hues, and obvious use of portrait photos, make this a rather affecting window, very expressive of post-WWI mourning. A brass to Thomas Wylde (d 1599), with small figures, is in the sanctuary.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: The plain Norman tub font belonging to the previous church is in the churchyard.

HISTORY: Built in 1873-75 by Arthur Blomfield (1829-99), one of the most active and successful church architects of the Gothic revival. The church was designed by one of the most active and successful church architects of the Gothic revival, Arthur William Blomfield (1829-99) who was the fourth son of Bishop Charles J Blomfield of London (bishop 1828-56). He was articled to P.C. Hardwick and began independent practice in 1856 in London. His early work is characterised by a strong muscular quality and the use of structural polychrome often with continental influences. He became diocesan architect to Winchester, hence a large number of church-building commissions throughout the diocese. He was also architect to the Bank of England from 1883. Blomfield was knighted in 1889 and was awarded the RIBA's Royal Gold Medal in 1891. The church replaced earlier churches at both here and nearby Deuxhill.

SOURCES: Newman, J., and Pevsner, N., The Buildings of England: Shropshire (2006),272.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The church of St Bartholomew, Glazeley, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It is a well-preserved small C19 Gothic-revival church which has undergone little subsequent alteration. * It has interior fittings of interest, including good-quality stained glass.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

254715

Legacy System:

LBS

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