Church Heritage Record 611072

4-bay aisleless nave with north vestry and south porch. 2-bay chancel (at slight angle to nave) with north organ chamber. Octagonal west bell-turret with spire.

[Approximate] Nave 13m (43ft) x 7m (23ft), chancel 9m (30ft) x 5m (16ft)

Within the vicinity of Caldecote, a Palaeolithic handaxe and tool have been found, south-east of the church. Roman remains have also been recorded north of Watling Street (A5), itself a Roman road. Two Prehistoric ring ditches are also visible as crop marks on aerial photographs. The village of Caldecote was mentioned in the Domesday Book, and a priest was also recorded at that time.

Caldecote Hall, an unlisted red brick house rebuilt in 1880, was built on the site of a medieval manor house. The Hall has been home to a succession of families, many of whose names are remembered inside the church. Whilst the hall was occupied by the Purefey family, it was attacked by Charles I’s sons, Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice in 1642, during the Civil War [VCH]. The story is remembered in George Abbot’s memorial on the north chancel wall. The door to the church is said to have come from the hall and bullet holes, a mark of the siege.

The church was repaired in 1766 and substantially rebuilt in 1857 by architect Ewan Christian [1814-95], at a cost of £2000 [VCH]. Christian was vice-president and Royal Gold Medallist of the RIBA and an architect to the Ecclesiastical Commission [Cherry]. Despite being well regarded at the time, his reputation has latterly been the subject of criticism, his restorations have been deemed destructive and dull by those including Pevsner.

The site has some archaeological potential. There are no known designations relating to the ecology of the plot, though it contains mature trees.

A small Gothic church in a secluded location, hidden down a private country lane. Prominent cement pointing detracts from the appearance. The church is described in length in the Victoria County History. The Chancel is orientated at a slight angle to the nave.

In brief, the church follows a simple form with nave with projecting gabled south porch (with pointed arched opening with hoodmould and headstops, screened by a wrought-iron gate, gable with stone cross finial, small windows in east and west elevations) and lower chancel with north vestry and north organ chamber. Two-light pointed windows sit beneath hoodmoulds with headstops, with a three-light window at the east end. Prominent stone copings mark each gable end. A moulded stone cornice continues around the top of the building, and a sill continues beneath the windows. Irregularly shaped and placed buttresses rise the full height of the elevations. The west elevation has a wide central buttress. Two two-light pointed windows are positioned high in the wall either side. The buttress supports the surmounting stone bell turret whose open base leads up to a diminishing octagonal spire.

A priest’s door can be seen in the south chancel wall which is blocked from the inside. There is a small blocked former squint next to it, and another similar blocked opening in the wall of the north organ chamber, this was presumably relocated here in the 19th century.

The porch is raised by a single step. The time-worn oak door into the church has large scrolling ironwork. The 4-bay nave is level and the aisle, though obscured by a carpet runner, is paved with red and black floor tiles, with iron grates to the sides. Level timber pew platforms either side have fixed oak pews. Six wrought-iron candelabra are fixed to the pews at intervals.

The walls have been coated in a rough painted plaster. The roof is formed by five-bay hammer-beam trusses resting on stone corbels. Wooden carved angels are fixed to each hammer-beam. The font is positioned in the south-west corner with rails around it. A north vestry opposite the south porch is entered beneath a pointed archway. It has a single north light.

Where there isn’t stained glass the windows have diamond leaded panes with colour limited to the outer edges. Additional light is provided by suspended light fittings with small glass shades.

The chancel is raised by a single step beneath a pointed stone chancel arch. The nave roof continues for 3-bays. The choir is more decorative with encaustic floor tiles and three substantial and fine wall monuments. Carved oak choir stalls with poppy heads and carved frontals are positioned to north and south sides. The organ is recessed beneath a pointed arch to the north. The sanctuary is elevated by a further step and paved with Minton floor tiles. It has a wooden sedilia fixed within the north wall, a piscina in the south wall, and features 19th century stained glass. The altar is raised upon a marble step.