Church of St Mary

Details

HOPE UNDER DINMORE CP HOPE UNDER DINMORE SO 55 SW 5/64 Church of St Mary 11.6.59 II*

Parish church. C14 or earlier origins, part rebuilt C18, restored 1879- 1896 by F R Kempson of Hereford. Coursed sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings; machine tiled roofs with stone ridge tiles to nave, elsewhere decorative ridge tiles and parapets at gable ends with cross and gabled finials. West tower, four-bay nave with north porch and north transept, two-bay chancel with north chapel and vestry. West tower: probably C18 and of three stages with strings. Lower stage has a blocked C19 doorway on the north side, and a large C19 lancet which has a hoodmould with returns, (the archway interrupts the string above). The second stage has a small C18 lancet to the south and west sides and a cusped C19 lancet on the north side. The belfry stage has pointed louvred bell-chamber openings, partly obscured by clockfaces to the north and west. There is a rebuilt plain parapet above. A lean-to addition adjoins the lower stage of the south elevation. Nave: there are no medieval features other than a cusped lancet at the eastern end of the south wall which is partly C14. There is a chamfered plinth and eaves cornice, and a still string beneath the windows. Windows are of two lights with pointed heads and have hoodmoulds with foliated-stops. There are two in the north elevation and four in the south elevation. The north porch is C19 and has a steeply pitched gabled roof and clasping buttresses. There is a tall pointed archway of two orders with roll mouldings and a hoodmould which returns to continue as a string course in the side elevations. Above the archway is a string course beneath a recessed circular panel with a moulded border containing a quatrefoil relief. In the side elevations are pairs of cusped lancets beneath openings with square heads, and, within the porch, the north doorway has a pointed archway of a single order and a hoodmould with foliated stops. The north transept is gabled and has ashlar bands at eaves level and within the gable forming impost bands to the window openings. There are two large cusped lancets which have hoodmoulds with foliated stops at the gable end and, within the gate, is a rose window, also with a hoodmould. On the west side is a 2-light window with a hoodmould and also steps leading down to a basement door. On the east side is a lean-to porch with a chamfered pointed archway and, in the east side, a trefoil-shaped opening. There is a similar archway within and, above, in the east angle of the transept roof, is a tall stone chimney. Chancel: rebuilt in 1896. It has an ashlar band at sill level and the east window is of three lights and has a hoodmould with returns. The south elevation has a pair of cusped lancets beneath a square head in the eastern bay; the western bay projects slightly and has a 2-light window and hoodmould with returns. The north chapel has a flat roof behind a parapet to its western bay and the eastern bay has a slightly projecting north gable. There is a pair of cusped lancets with a hoodmould at the east end and in the north side and also a round-headed window in the north gable end. Interior: C19 pointed chancel arch of two orders, the inner supported on colonettes above moulded corbels, and a hoodmould with foliated stops. Two-bay arcade to chapel similarly detailed with central circular column; transept archway also similarly detailed. Tower arch of two orders, inner order on moulded corbels and there is a hoodmould with carved stops and a string at impost level. Nave roof has arch-braced collar and tie-beam truss and two tiers of cusped wind-braces. C19 barrel roof in chancel. C19 cusped pointed arched piscina. The stone font is probably late C13 and has an octagonal bowl with cusped arcading, foliated spandrels and relief carvings of Christ, St Peter and St Paul and others. The stem is panelled and moulded and there is a late C17 cover. Pulpit is C19 and has traciered, arcaded, blind panelling. Parish chest has pair of half-balusters at the angles and is probably C18. Memorials: C18 memorial in north gable of chapel to Coningsby family ascribed to Roubiliac. It has two large figures of the Earl, his wife and son, died 1708 (monument is actually 1760) seated before two pairs of Corinthian pilasters supporting an open segmental pediment and coat of arms and framing a baldacchino draped relief background. Also in the chapel is an incised tomb slab to Humfry Conyngsbye, died 150(8) and his wife, their three sons and four daughters with a marginal inscription. In the nave is an oval memorial to Joshua Meats, died 1816 and a mid-C18 memorial to the Tayler family. In the tower there is a memorial to Francis Evans, died 1732, a late C18 memorial to the Green family and an ornate mid-C19 memorial to Sophia Philips, died 1837. Glass: a south window of the tower has a C13 or C14 foliated quarry. (RCHM., Herefs III, p 67-8, item 1; BoE, p 196).

Listing NGR: SO5105852826

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

149627

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Inventory of Herefordshire III North West, (1934), 67-8
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Herefordshire, (1963), 196

End of official list entry

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