Church of St Michael

Details

SO 24 NE, 5/120

WINFORTON CP,
WINFORTON

Church of St Michael

16.10.67

II*

Parish church. C13 or earlier origins, part rebuilt and extended circa
1300 with further C16 and C17 alterations; restored in 1895. Sandstone
rubble with ashlar dressings and timber-framed bell-chamber with boarded
infill. Plain tiled roofs with decorative ridge tiles and parapets with
cross finials at east end and at end of north transept. West tower, four-
bay nave with north transept and south porch, and two-bay chancel.

West
tower: two stages and three storeys internally. Lower rubble stage is
medieval. It has a battered plinth, a C19 pointed chamfered south doorway
and two rectangular lights, one per storey, in the north and west sides.
The timber-framed bell chamber was added in the C16. It has three rows of
close-set studding and in the central panel of the upper and lower rows
are louvred openings. Above is a pyramidal roof and tall weathervane.
Nave: heightened in C14. South wall rebuilt in 1895. Side elevations have
angled buttresses with offsets at the west end and buttresses with offsets
at the east end; all are C19. The north elevation has a pair of C19 lancets
and small C19 lancet. The south elevation has three pairs of lancets of a
similar date. The north transept was added c1300. It is gabled and has an
original 3-light window at its gable end and a C19 pointed chamfered doorway
in its east side. There is a C19 external rubble chimney in the east angle.
South porch: C19. Gabled and timber-framed on a tall dressed rubble base
with ashlar coping. The roof has overhanging eaves and moulded bargeboards,
with traceried relief decoration, arch-braced inner and outer king-post
trusses and brattished wall-plates. There are 6-light chamfered mullioned
openings at each side. The floor paving incorporates some circa 1700 ledger
slabs to members of the Guest family and also a slat with a cross incised
upon it said to be the former altar slab. The south doorway is also C19
and is pointed with a continuous roll moulding. Chancel: rebuilt c1300,
the east wall was rebuilt in 1698 and part of the south wall was again
rebuilt in 1895. There is a reset and restored original east window of
three lights and nearby is a stone inscribed "John Houlds, 1698" recording
the rebuilding of the wall. The side elevations both have two pairs of
cusped lancets, all of which are C19 except for the south-east window which
is c1300 but much restored.

INTERIOR: there is a timber chancel arch formed
by a moulded arch-braced brattished tie beam with pierced quatrefoil decoration
in the spandrels. The nave has a c1300 pointed archway opening into the transept
(now vestry) of two chamfered orders, the outer continuous and the inner spring-
ing from semi-octagonal shafts with moulded capitals. To the west of this arch
is a blocked doorway of similar date and there is also a blocked doorway between
the two south windows of the chancel. A medieval doorway in the west wall of the
nave leads into an alcove at the base of the tower. Nave and chancel have C14
wagon roofs with scissor-braces. Chancel has a C19 painted gilded reredos, a
c1300 piscina with pointed head, and altar rails with turned balusters, moulded
handrails and shaped finials given to the church in 1701. There are also various
masons' marks scratched onto the east and south-east windows. The stone font is
probably C13 and has an octagonal bowl and circular stem on two-stepped base.
The five-sided timber pulpit includes two enriched arcaded panels with
inscriptions, one from the Bible, the other stating "This pulpit/ was given/ by Thomas/
Higgins gent/ Anno Domini/ 1613"; the other panels are of late C17 date. There
is also an early C18 parish chest given by another Thomas Higgins dated 1722.
In the north transept there is a recess with a cusped head and scalloped
fan-shaped drain of circa 1300. The church retains a fine late C18 organ
case by Tommy Blyth of Middlesex which was reconstructed and enlarged by
Reginald Welch of Oxford, in 1867. Memorials: early C19 memorial in the
chancel to Abigail Domuile, died 1822, with urn relief. In the nave is a
memorial to William Domuile, died 1859, to Edward Price, died 1773, and to
samuel, Ferrar, all with urn decoration.

(RCHM, III, p 212-3, item 1; BoE, p 323)


Listing NGR: SO2987046973

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

150675

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Inventory of Herefordshire III North West, (1934), 212-3
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Herefordshire, (1963), 323

End of official list entry

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