Church of St Mary

Details

ST 76 NE SWAINSWICK UPPER SWAINSWICK

5/239 CHURCH OF ST MARY

1.2.56 II*

G.V.

Anglican Parish Church. C12, altered C14 and C15; restored mid - late C19 by
C.E. Davis of Bath. West tower, nave, north aisle, south porch, chancel and
north chancel chapel. Ashlar and coursed rubble; stone slate roof with coped
raised verges. The west tower is probably C14 and it is built into the west end
of the nave: 3 stages with plain ashlar parapet and quoins; saddleback roof;
single square light on second stage and 2-light cusped window to bell chamber;
buttress with off-sets at west corner. Nave: to the left of the porch is
2-light window with cusped ogee-headed tracery, under a square hood mould, single
narrow light at left; to the right of the porch is a fine 3-light window with an
ogee head, moulded mullions and surrounds and reticulated tracery in the upper
part, ogee hoodmould and finial; at the far right is a 2-light casement window
with segmental heads and ovolo moulded surrounds. Gabled and projecting south
porch; plank studded door in fine moulded and ogee headed doorway. Chancel is
mostly C19: 2 windows on south side, one plain with 3-lights and one single
cusped light; 4-light Perpendicular style but C19 east window. North chantry
chapel has a 4-light late Perpendicular style east window with cusped heads and
under a square dripmould; similar 2-light window on north side and doorway with a
chamfered and 4-centre headed surround (leaf carving in the spandrels). North
aisle: remains of stoup close to chantry door; large 4-light Perpendicular style
window at left, with 4-centred head; 2-light window to west with a small square
light at the right; 3-light west window in ovolo moulded and round-headed surrounds.
South door is mid - late C12: single columns with scalloped capitals; arch with
2 bands of zig-zag; hoodmould with a band of dogtooth moulding and carved head
stops. Interior. Three of the supporting piers of the tower are visible:
octagonal with stops on the south piers; double chamfered arches to east and
south with continuous hoodmoulds and string course; coarsely cut head stops and
figure of a demi-angel on south-east pier. 2 bay north arcade with piers of
alternating hollow mouldings and engaged shafts; 4-centred arches but round-
headed and chamfered, narrow arch to east. Ogee moulded chancel arch; arch from
aisle to north chantry chapel has engaged columns with foliate and crocketted
capitals; arch from chancel to north chapel has a Perpendicular style panelled
soffit and sides. Stoup to east of south door has an elaborate canopy with an
ogee head and crocketted pinnacles; plain 4-centre headed recess with carved
spandrels and thin columns surrounds piscina in north chapel. Pulpit: late C19
in an Early English style. Font, possibly early C13; recut: ashlar; octagonal
bowl on a cylindrical stem and with a moulded base. Monuments. Tower: Mary
Morgan 1794, by William Reeves of Bath in marble and with a draped urn. Nave:
Royal Arms of Charles I, 1647. Chancel: Catherine Winsloe, by T. King of Bath
in marble with an oval medallion bearing a draped urn which stands on a plinth
decorated with heraldry; brass to Edmund Forde, 1439. North aisle: John and
William Turner, 1678 and Anne Danvers, 1682, inscribed tablets. (N. Pevsner,
The Buildings of England : North Somerset and Bristol, 1958).


Listing NGR: ST7565268417

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

408072

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol, (1958)

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.