Church Heritage Record 634485

West tower, nave of five bays with north and south aisles under the same roof; chancel with small north vestry.

The church is first mentioned in 1273 in terms which imply that it was then well established. But the present building is mostly the result of a fifteenth-century rebuilding including west tower, nave, aisles and porch. The chancel, which was not rebuilt at that time, was restored (in fact virtually rebuilt) by William Butterfield in 1860 at a cost to the patron, Horatio Nelson Goddard, of about £700. In 1874 Butterfield restored the rest of the church and supplied furnishings for the chancel at a cost of £1,800.

The west tower is of three diminishing stages, all ashlar faced, with a boldly moulded plinth at the base and a parapet with moulded battlements. At the western angles are diagonal buttresses with weatherings halfway up each stage, and the moulded stringcourses which mark the stages embrace the buttresses also. Access to the upper floors is by a spiral staircase in an octagonal turret at the south-east corner which rises oddly conjoined to the buttress and pinnacle. The lowest stage has a four-centred arched doorway with continuous mouldings and a hood-mould terminating in square stops. Above it is a large three-light window with cinquefoiled main lights and panel tracery. The middle stage has a two-light window in the west wall, again with panel tracery and a moulded hood with returned stops, and a large circular clock face above with gold Roman numerals on a black ground. The ground and middle stages are blind to north and south. The uppermost stage has two-light louvred bell openings in each face with hollow-moulded surrounds and panel tracery, and the parapet has diagonal crocketted pinnacles at the angle which rise from the buttresses.

The nave has narrow aisles under unbroken roof-slopes so that they do not appear externally. The moulded plinth of the tower continues all round at the same level, and where the ground level has fallen away on the south side it is possible to see the rough stones of the footings, including an enormous boulder under one buttress. The bays are divided by buttresses terminating just below the eaves and each bay has one large three-light window, all of the same design, with cinquefoiled heads to the main lights and panel tracery. The middle bay on each side is provided with a doorway, that on the north quite simple with a chamfered four-centred arch and hoodmould with square stops unshelteredby a porch. On the wall above, however, is a fine stone cartouche of the Goddard arms with a crest in a semi-circular panel above and scrolls and garlands on each side. The south doorway has a four- centred hollow-moulded arch and is sheltered by a porch with a four-centred outer arch with continuous mouldings and a moulded hood like that over the north and west doors. The side walls of the porch are pierced by quatrefoils set in square recesses and there are diagonal buttresses at the angles. Along the walls inside are plain stone benches and the old roof remains, similar in design to that of the nave, with curved moulded ribs showing that it should be plastered to form a waggon vault. There is a recess for a stoup to the right of the inner doorway but no detail remains, and a moulded transverse beam pierced with two fixing holes above the doorway is painted red and blue with stars in circles and a wavy line (a Butterfieldian repainting of something older). This supports various fragments of carved stone.

Butterfield's chancel has a three-light east window with trefoiled heads to the lights and two-light windows in the north and south walls with trefoiled lights under square heads without labels. At the corners are small diagonal buttresses under steeply sloping weatherings. The vestry is under a continuation of the north roof slope and has two more trefoiled lights in the east wall. The chimney which rises above it, with several buttress-like off-sets, is the one feature which indicates Butterfield's skill with three-dimensional geometry.

The proportions of the interior of the nave and aisles are tall, long and narrow, with octagonal pillars to the five-bays arcades of unusual height. These have moulded capitals of rather weak design and moulded bases. The moulded arches which they carry have considerable traces of polychromy which seems to be marbling. The east and west responds are of similar character to the pillars. All the windows are set within moulded surrounds and the tall tower arch has two continuous wavy mouldings carried down to stop on splayed bases. The chancel arch is almost identical. The nave roof has tie-beams to each bay with curved brackets resting on short polygonal shafts against the walls, and above these is of collar type with curved braces to each pair of rafters. The moulded ridge and purlins, with carved florets at the intersections, show that the roof ought to be plastered to form a waggon vault. The tie-beams are moulded and cambered. That at the east, against the chancel wall, has a small bracket above which was presumably for the rood. The aisle roofs have moulded beams and purlins.

The nave is paved with red, black and yellow tiles in the alleys and is laid with timber boards under the pews. At the east end there are parclose screen to the east bay of each aisle, and the bay of the nave between these has a raised floor and is furnished with choirstalls, possibly by Butterfield in 1874.

The north chapel has a fine brass of a knight in the floor and at present houses the organ, while the south chapel is simply used as a store. It has a much restored squint opening into the chancel. The original screen also survives across the chancel arch, and the rood stair is within the northern respond, with a similar arch opening above the south abutment of the screen. Beyond the screen, all is the work of Butterfield. It has been toned down somewhat by the overpainting of his diaper pattern of tiles on the east wall and the removal in 1962 of the reredos, which was replaced by a curtain. The east window has shafted reveals and a moulded arch and the roof has a semi-circular barrel vault on which, again, Butterfield's scheme of decoration has been overpainted with white. Decoration still remains on the curved ribs and on the foliate bosses. The floor is of red and blacktiles with glazed buff patterns in the sanctuary, and a small Caernarvon-headed doorway opens into the vestry on the north side.