Church of St Michael

Details

WILSFORD CUM LAKE WILSFORD SU 13 NW (east side)

8/211 Church of St Michael 18.2.58 II* Anglican parish church. C12, largely rebuilt 1852 by T. H. Wyatt for Giles Loder. Strap-pointed flint with limestone dressings. Greensand quoins to C12 work in tower. Tiled roofs. Nave and chancel in one, with organ chamber on north, a timber framed south porch, by Weaver, added 1869 and C12 west tower. Widely spaced lancets and sill string course. Triple lancets to east end. Ashlar eaves course. Some chevron and other C12 carved stones built in walls. Tower has C12 lower two stages without buttresses, and west door with nook shafts and cushioned capitals. Two round headed windows. Upper stage rebuilt, with corbelled parapet and two light openings. Pyramidal tiled roof. Interior: Spacious, walls plastered and floor flagged. Chancel differentiated from nave by heavier truss only. Nave roof of 3½ bays, open timber trusses with principal rafters braced from hammer beams, and vertical studs above collars. Chancel truss of pierced oak carried on timber wall shafts on stone corbels. Panelled angled ceiling over chancel end. C12 tower arch with chamfered impost capitals, applied balls on north side. Round headed opening from bell chamber to nave. Fittings: Font, octagonal limestone bowl on short column, possibly C17, reset C19. Panelled pulpit. Communion rail, choir stalls and pews all C19 but two probably C17 plain pews near rear of church. Organ by J.W. Walker, 1858 in Gothic case. Glass: In south chancel window, a small C15 crucified Christ set in C14 pieces. Monuments: An interesting range of wall monuments. North side, from east end: a) Gothic limestone niche with angled buttresses and ogee cusped canopy. To Edward Duke of Lake House, died 1852. b) Small neat Carrara marble tablet. A pyramid over panel, to Samuel Andrews, died 1801. c) Gothic niche by Osmund. Nodding crocketed ogee canopy between panelled buttresses carrying square pinnacles, crocketed gable behind. Inscribed and imprinted marble panel to Elizabeth Loder of Wilsford House. d) Large Carrara marble panel with fluted frame, to Augustine Hayter, died 1779, and later family. e) Engraved slate tablet by Eric Gill, portraying mother and child, to Wynlayne Foster Lodge of Painswick, died 1922. f) Wall tablet by Earlsman of Sarum. Shaped top. White marble oval panel on grey field with shaped top. Urn over, husks below, to Richard Chandler, died 1784. South side, from east end: g) Corniced wall tablet by Earlsman. White and grey marbles. Urn on steps above erased wyvern crest on apron. To Robert Duke, died 1793, and wife, died 1805. h) White marble tablet with yellow marble panel, scroll and foliage supporters. Cornice over, carrying coloured mantled arms. Two putti in three-quarter relief below. To Edward Wyndham Tennant, died 1916 on the Somme. i) In window embrasure: polished slate tablet with shaped top, a crown of ships in roundel. To Lt. John Chetwode, RN, died 1941. j) In next embrasure: a terrazzo tablet with shaped top. Relief of Monte Cassino within wreath. To Major Douglas Bailey, died 1944. k) White marble sarcophagus on grey by Osmund. Corniced lid with coloured arms. To Philip Pinckney, died 1843. 1) Polished limestone panel to Richard Sykes, ambassador to the Netherlands, assassinated 1979. m) White marble corniced panel on grey. Draped urn over. To John Pinckney, died 1792. On west wall, carved arms of George III and two hatchments i) Robert Duke, died 1749, and ii) Robert Duke, son of last, died 1793, as g) above. In chancel, a series of 6 cast and painted plaster panels of angels playing musical instruments, separate garlands over, and roundels above. Half round panels below with quotations from Keats' Ode In nave eight C18 metal sconces. (Pevsner: Buildings of England: Wiltshire; Churches of South East Wiltshire; rchm. 1987) In churchyard, four significant post-Great War memorials. a) Against south chancel wall, 1940, limestone, to Sir Oliver Lodge, and adjacent slab to wife; and in churchyard extension: b) A striking limestone headstone with very broad cornice and swept base, by Roderick Gradidge. Figure and inscription both sides. To Diana Blow, died 1967. c) Tablet to Field Marshall Sir Gerald Templar, died 1979, and d) Headstone to David Tennant, died 1968, to which his wife, Hermione Baddeley was added, 1986.

Listing NGR: SU1348239802

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

321532

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Churches of South East Wiltshire, (1987)
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Wiltshire, (1975)

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.