Church of St Michael

Church of St Michael, Church Path, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 3JX

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Overview

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1338378
Date first listed:: 24-Mar-1950
List Entry Name:: Church of St Michael
Statutory Address:: Church of St Michael, Church Path, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 3JX

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Date:: 2004-08-24
Reference:: IOE01/12662/20
Rights:: © Mrs Angela Clark. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1338378
Date first listed:: 24-Mar-1950
Date of most recent amendment:: 18-Oct-2024
List Entry Name:: Church of St Michael
Statutory Address 1:: Church of St Michael, Church Path, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 3JX

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: Church of St Michael, Church Path, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 3JX

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Essex
District:: Basildon (District Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: TQ7385287780

Summary

Tower and altar of the former Church of St Michael, built in the early C16; the nave and chancel were rebuilt in 1871 to architectural designs by Sir Arthur Blomfield and demolished around 2000.

Reasons for Designation

The tower and altar of the former Church of St Michael, built in the early C16, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest: * for the architectural quality and craftsmanship of these surviving fragments of the C16 former church; * as an important and imposing landmark located high on Pitsea Mount.

Historic interest: * as surviving fragments of the medieval church of St Michael, contributing to our understanding of the history and evolution of Pitsea.

History

Pitsea appears in the Domesday Book, and the earliest documentary reference to the existence of a church there appears to be in C12 records relating to St John’s Abbey, Colchester. St John’s Abbey continued to hold Pitsea until the abbey was dissolved in 1539, and a new church, the west tower of which survives, was built sometime in the early C16. A visitation by Rev WJ Pressey in 1685 recorded the church as being in a poor condition and leaning. The nave and chancel were rebuilt in 1871 to designs by Sir Arthur William Blomfield ARA FRIBA (1829-1899) a prolific architect of churches. The church continued to suffer subsidence, and in 1899 the walls and windows were reported as fitting very badly. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex published in 1923 described the appearance of the west tower and its fittings at that time including three C16 and C17 bells, an early-C16 font, and early-C16 masons’ marks on the east doorway of the tower.

St Michael’s Church was listed at Grade II in 1950 and the List entry was amended in 1975. The condition of the church continued to decline, and construction of the A13 in the 1970s effectively cut the church off from the community it once served. The church closed in 1979, became redundant in 1983 and was largely demolished around 2000 following severe vandalism. Only the C16 tower of the church and its altar survive, and the medieval tower has been adapted for use as a telecommunications station.

Details

Tower and altar of the former Church of St Michael, built in the early C16; the nave and chancel were rebuilt in 1871 to designs by Sir Arthur W. Blomfield and demolished around 2000.

MATERIALS: Coursed and squared limestone with ashlar sandstone dressings.

PLAN: The tower is square on plan and stands at the former west end of the Church of St Michael; the altar is rectangular on plan and stands at the centre of the east end of the former church.

EXTERIOR: The early C16 tower is square on plan and is of three stages, undivided externally, with an embattled parapet; the parapet formerly had carved gargoyles at the angles however these are no longer present. On its east elevation, a doorway to the former nave (demolished) has chamfered jambs, a two-centred arch and gate; over the doorway the scar of the former gabled nave is evident. The west elevation has a single bay of windows to each stage; the first and second stages have flat-arched window surrounds, the first-stage opening being blocked. The third stage, the former bell-chamber, has on its east elevation a square-headed window opening; the other three sides each have a trefoil-arched window opening with a square hoodmould over. The altar at the east end of the former church likely dates from the C16. It has an 18cm thick limestone slab, three sides of which have been shaped to incorporate beading and a bevel, and two rough crosses are incised towards one end. The slab, called a ‘mensa stone’, from the Latin word for table, mensa, was broken in two pieces, probably during the Reformation.

INTERIOR: The interior of the tower has been adapted to house telecommunications equipment, with steel ladders and floors inserted.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 112309
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Bettley, James, Pevsner, Nikolaus, The Buildings of England: Essex, (2007), 123
Websites
Basildon, ‘St Michaels Church’, accessed 09 May 2024 from https://www.basildon.com/history/churches/st-michaels-church.html
Beyond the Point, ‘St Michaels Church’, accessed 09 May 2024 from https://beyondthepoint.co.uk/st-michaels-church/
British History Online, 'Pitsea', in 'An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex', Volume 4, South east, (London, 1923) pp. 108, accessed 09 May 2024 from https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/essex/vol4/p108
Heritage Gateway, ‘Church of Saint Michael, Hob: 621998’, accessed 29 May 2024 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=8925e0a6-27d5-460e-9d7d-9cc20b6d70c4&resourceID=19191
Other
Mackley, R (ed), ‘Transactions of the Rochford Hundred Field Archaeology Group - Volume 2 The Church of Pitsea St Michael Research Project 1994-1995’, (1995)

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.