Church of St Bartholomew

Details

ALDSWORTH ALDSWORTH VILLAGE SP 1510 11/9 Church of St. Bartholomew 26.1.61 GV I

Anglican parish church. Late C12 and C15, restored 1842-3 and c1877 when the chancel arch, chancel and vestry were rebuilt. Nave south wall and tower and south porch coursed squared and dressed limestone. North aisle limestone rubble, chancel and vestry ashlar. Slate roof. Plan; nave with north aisle and north and south porches, tower at west end. Chancel with vestry on south. North aisle, rebuilt c1500. Two 2-light cinquefoil-headed windows with carved spandrels within rectangular surrounds with casement mouldings. Continuous hood stepped up over each window. Carved shield at centre of hood over each window. Buttress with engaged crocketed pinnacle at top between windows. Diagonal buttress incorporating trefoil-headed niche within ogee-curved opening at north-east corner. Tudor Rose within niche. Engaged crocketed pinnacles either side of niche. Grotesque head and pinnacle above. Smaller pinnacle half way along parapet and at north-west corner of north aisle. Large shield decorating left-hand return of north aisle, possibly blocking small window, hood stepped up over shield. Small blocked opening upper left. Single light with trefoiled head, carved spandrels and continuous hood incorporating carved clawed foot right of porch. Blocked pointed window with tracery and stopped hood in right-hand return of north aisle. Moulded capping to parapet, unusually large grotesque heads and animal figures decorate deep moulded string below. Late Perpendicular north porch with early plank door (date 1626 scratched on back of door) within round-headed surround. Stopped hood and blind quatrefoil above. Nave south wall; moulded plinth continued around south porch. One 2-light and one 3-light window with cinquefoil-headed lights in rectangular surrounds with casement mouldings and stopped hoods. Two-light cinquefoil-headed stone- mullioned windows to clerestory. Parapet with moulded capping and string with single small grotesque heads over each window and at the south-east corner. Buttress far left. Porch off-centre left with C20 door with fillets within late Perpendicular Tudor-arched surround with stopped hood. Eroded head over entrance. Tower; late Perpendicular with diagonal buttresses with offsets. Single trefoil-headed light to second stage on west. Three 2-light belfry windows with stone louvres to third stage. All openings with stopped hoods. Ribbed octagonal stone spire with pinnacles at each corner. Four lucarnes with stone louvres. Chancel; diagonal buttresses and 3-light C19 east window. Vestry with C19 plank door with decorative hinges in east facing wall, trefoil-headed light right. Interior of north porch; stone bench seat right, ribbed vault rising from engaged columns with roll-moulded capitals. Large Tudor Rose at centre. Grotesque heads where vaulting meets side walls. Single heraldic shield on each wall. Defaced stoup inside entrance. Niche in east wall with partly blind trefoiled head with traces of painting. Pierced stone cresset forming sill, narrow flue rises from the back of the niche. Early studded plank door to north aisle with original ironwork. Pointed-arched surround with ogee moulding, the inner order may be Transitional Norman. The south porch; vaulting as in north porch, stone bench seats either side, small trefoil-headed light in east wall. Double C20 doors within Tudor-arched surround to nave. Church interior; late C12 north arcade of 3 bays with pointed arches of two chamfered orders with hoodmoulds on round piers, scalloped capitals and octagonal abaci. C19 pointed chancel arch of 2 orders. Flat-chamfered pointed arch in south wall of chancel to vestry/organ chamber. Plank door with fillets within roll- moulded pointed arch to base of tower. C19 panelled roof to nave. Three-bay chancel with arch-braced collar beam roof trusses. Stone flag floor to nave, coloured and encaustic tiling to floor of chancel. Cinquefoil-headed niche at east end of north aisle, crocketed pinnacles. Two.shields bearing the initials 'S K' above niche and emblematic wheel on image bracket, indicate this was a chapel dedicated to St. Katherine. Foliate spandrels over windows lighting north aisle. Carved stone shield with crowned heart over left-hand window, similar shield with clawed foot over right-hand window. Both windows lie within pointed-headed recesses. Niche on south wall of nave and at the edge left-hand side of the easternmost window with finely carved crocketed canopy and 4-petal flower decoration trefoil-head panelling below. Furniture and fittings; Regency Gothick font at south-west corner of nave. Regency Gothick pews with finials. C19 altar with painted C19 wooden reredos. C19 stained glass in east window. C15 stained glass with inscription and decoration in form of stars, crowns and a Tudor Rose. (David Verey, The Buildings of England, Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds, 1979; and V.C.H Vol VII

Listing NGR: SP1539009976

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

130446

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 1 The Cotswolds, (1970)
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester, (1981)

End of official list entry

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