Church Heritage Record 620497

Cruciform, with west tower, three-bay aisleless nave, north and south family chapels in the position of transepts; virtually square chancel with a small organ chamber on the south side. A semi-permanent partition divides the nave from the eastern parts which are now dis-used.

In the middle ages Adderley was a thriving market town, and had a mediaeval church on the site of the present building. Nothing of this remains except the chapel which was added on the north side in 1635-7. The next building period is represented by the tower which was erected in 1712, replacing a former structure which had become almost derelict. The main part of the church now standing dates from 1801. No architect is known for any part, but it is probably by Richard Baker, the builder of the church.

The west tower is short and, like the rest of the church, in a severe classical style with few decorative details. At each corner there is an attached Tuscan pilaster which plays the part of a buttress. The bases of these project beyond a moulded plinth which surrounds the lower six feet of the tower. In the west face there is the only window of any size. It is of two round-headed lights under a rounded moulding, the space between filled with a roundel. The style of the window in general seems to agree with that of the tower, although the stone above it which gives the date 1712 is only dowelled to the wall, not bonded in. The upper part of the tower which contains the belfry has a Y-traceriedlouvred opening in each face. The parapet is unpierced and conceal the roof. Pinnacles formerly at the corners were removed because of insecurity. As a result the tower looks more squat than it should.

The rest of the church is cruciform, built of the same stone as the tower and very similar in style in spite of being a century later. The nave has three windows in the north wall and two and the main door in the south wall. These windows, together with two more each in the side walls of the chancel and the south transept give the impression of being punched in the wall because they have no sills or peripheral mouldings of any sort. They are all of the same design, pointed with two-centred arched heads. The tracery is of cast iron, an unusual feature but to be expected in this area so close to the birthplace of the iron and steel industry at Ironbridge. Each window has three lights with pointed heads and then two panels above. All sections are filled with small rectangular panes. The nave, chancel and south transept have a prominent cornice at the wall-head surmounted by a plain parapet which conceals the gutters. The roof of the nave is the same height and pitch as that of the chancel and the south transept, and all three are slated.

The south transept has a gabled south wall with a large recessed panel in the central part, the gable treated as a very plain pediment. There is no window in this wall. Between the transept and the chancel is an organ chamber, evidently a later addition since the exterior cornice of the church continues uninterrupted inside it. It is sympathetically done, in the same materials and style as the walls each side of it.

The oldest part of the church now extant is the north transept which was added to the mediaeval church by the Needham family in 1625 as.a result of long wrangling between this family and the other important local family, the Corbets.

The nave is light and well-kept, with a stone flagged floor and sturdy oak pews which stand on wooden platforms. The Norman font just within the south door is massive and square on a circular roll-moulded pedestal. The curved stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the eastern apse are now on the west wall, the incised "black-letter" script painted red and blue.

The walls are panelled up to window-sill level with a panelled dado. Above this they are plastered and painted white. The ceiling is flat and without decoration, also white.

The vestry is in the ground floor of the tower, divided off by an oak screen with a panelled door in the centre, the rest of the tower arch being open above, so that light comes into the church from the window in the west-tower wall.

The chancel is also apsidal and in the same style as the nave and south transept. It is divided from the crossing space by a wooden screen of Corinthian columns standing on a panelled base. The central opening is closed by iron gates and there is a Rood above. Like the south aisle, the chancel is lit by a window in each lateral wall. There are important brasses on the floor and some interesting monuments on the walls. The floor at the crossing has several ledger slabs of interest also. The panelled dado of nave and transept is continued in the chancel, and the organ chamber on the south side now stands empty.