Church Heritage Record 638158

Nave, with attached south porch, and chancel under one roof. North vestry containing WC. West bell turret.

[Approximate] Nave 10m (33ft) x 4m (13ft), chancel 4m (13ft)

Carburton may have been settled by the Romans and was likely to have once been encompassed by Sherwood Forest. Arable land at Carburton is mentioned in the Domesday Survey forming part of the Royal Hunting Manor of Mansfield. The name ‘Cars’ means land liable to flood, which relates to its position near the river.

The village, owned historically by the Duke of Portland, is recorded on Heritage Gateway as a shrunken village. It is understood to have reduced in size between 1615 and 1797. An iron forge was situated here, and was last recorded in 1751.

The archaeological potential of the site is considerable there having been a church recorded here since c.1100. The church has a 12th century plan with elongated nave and chancel. A south aisle was removed before 1748 and its form revealed in 1958. Norman dog-tooth detail can be seen on one of the blocked columns. The stone font and round-headed windows are of this date. It was built as a chapel of ease, and remained so until 1867. The roof was raised in c.1887.

Ledger stones dating to the 14th century pave the floor just inside the south door. Of local interest is a memorial in the chancel to John Mazine, a horseman and later Equerry to the 1st Duke of Newcastle at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644. He was appointed Master of Horse in Antwerp and when he returned to England the adjacent farmhouse was built for him. He died in 1672.

There are no known designations relating to the ecology of the plot but at the time of visiting, there was evidence of bats inside the church.

A WWII Prisoner of War camp was situated to the west at Youngrough Breck.

A small, simple, rectangular chapel in a quiet rural location, with only a few nearby buildings. Its low profile and rendered stone exterior serve to camouflage the building within the surrounding landscape.

The west elevation has a two-light Y-tracery window. A short, square, rendered timber bell turret (not accessible to inspect) rises above the west end. An unattractive modern urban street-style lamp is fixed to its west face. The roof has a very low profile and it is difficult to see the roof slopes. Substantial carved stone kneelers are placed at each corner. A two-sided sundial sits within the corner of the south and west walls. A small gabled porch projects from the west end of the south elevation. It is a later addition surrounding a 12th century doorway (round arched with a hoodmould and carved stops) and has a simple metal gate across the entrance to prevent grazing sheep from entering.

The main feature along the south wall is a blocked arcade whose arched forms have been exposed to display the profile of octagonal piers and to reveal small sections of differently carved capitals including dog-tooth, plain and foliate. Two, two-light Y-tracery windows with diamond leaded-panes in the south wall, and a single lancet towards the eastern end.

A single light east window has a hoodmould with carved headstops, and a small lancet window placed either side. A stone cross finial surmounts the hardly gabled east end. On the north side a vestry with lean-to roof has a west-facing door and a chimney to the east. It has two openings in its north wall, both with large stone block surrounds, the eastern-most appears to have been a former doorway, now partially blocked. To its west is another two-light window.

The interior is a low, light space which is very simply furnished. The walls are plastered and painted, though in poor condition with paint peeling from them and salts evident on the surfaces. The roof is formed of exposed oak trusses, with areas at the far eastern and western ends plastered, the remainder is boarded. Immediately inside the south door inscribed and worn ledger stones are laid in the floor. There is a step up to a platform on which the font is located at the west end which partially obstructs access along the nave aisle. The nave is seated with simple painted softwood open-backed benches, fixed to level wood-board platforms. The central aisle is of evenly laid paving stones with metal grilles to either side. Functional electric strip-lights are suspended from the centre of the roof.

Windows are mostly clear diamond leaded glazing. Lancets at the east end are set within deep recesses. The chancel is raised by a single step. The floor is of wood boards with inlaid stone ledgers, in front of the altar, covering a vault. There are no choir stalls. The vestry is accessed through a door on the north side of the chancel, and is raised by three steps.