Description

SP3625-3725
14/42

ENSTONE
Church Enstone
CHURCH STREET (north side)
Church of St Kenelm

27/08/57

GV
II*
Church. Late C12, late C13 and C15; tower and alterations early/mid C16; restored 1856 by G.E Street. Limestone rubble with ashlar dressings and limestone ashlar; copper and lead roofs. Chancel, nave, north and south aisles (overlapping the chancel), south-west porch and west tower.

Chancel is probably C13 but has a C19 triple-lancet east window, and two- and three-light C16 side windows with uncusped arched lights; the small arched doorway to north probably served a vanished sacristy. Broad south aisle has two C15/early C16 windows to east and four windows to south, three with elaborate Perpendicular drop tracery, four-centred arches and deep casement mouldings; the aisle has numerous buttresses and incorporates earlier work, including the two storey porch at its west end, with a C13/C14 entrance arch of two chamfered orders and a small two-light C15 first floor window.

Late C12 south doorway has an elaborate arch of three orders, decorated with roll, spool and chevron ornament, and has small attached jamb shafts; octopartite porch vault has head corbels and a small central boss of eight heads. A narrower section of the aisle, projecting to west of the porch, has a square-headed three-light window with ogee tracery, and a single-light C16 window facing west. Narrow north aisle has a simple round-headed late C12 doorway, and a C13 lancet west window which may have been reused when the tower was built; a three-light C15 window and a two-light C16 window both have square heads. Wider section of aisle adjoining chancel has further square-headed windows. Chancel and aisles have plain parapets. Nave clerestory has plain two-light windows.

Three-stage ashlar tower, with high moulded plinth, diagonal buttresses, and crenellated parapet with corner pinnacles, has a three-light west window, with uncusped tracery, above a moulded four-centre-arched doorway; two-light bell-chamber openings with cusped lights may be earlier work re-used.

Interior: chancel has, to north, a simple C13 arch and a C14/C15 doorway with continuous mouldings; to south is a wide splayed four-centred arch with panelled soffit formerly serving a narrow chantry chapel. Chancel arch of two continuous chamfered orders in probably C13/C14 and to south of it is a small C12 capital. Easternmost bays of nave arcades have wide four-centred arches, possibly replacing a former central tower. Remaining four bays of south arcade have late C12 pointed arches with angle rolls, circular columns with square knob-volute and waterleaf capitals, and square bases with corner spurs; corresponding bays of late C13 north arcade have alternating circular and fluted octagonal columns, with moulded capitals and bases, supporting arches of two hollow-chamfered orders.

Tall early C16 tower arch has splayed jambs and an arch of two chamfered orders. Two adjoining C15 windows of south aisle are divided by a tall shaft and served a chapel of which the small piscina survives. A further chapel at the east end of the aisle retains two C15 brackets supported by carved heads (possibly re-set) and a small early piscina. The narrow chantry between it and the chancel has similar brackets supporting the springing of a former vaulted roof, and has a panelled reredos below the three-light window, which also includes canopied image niches in the wide casement moulding. Roofs of nave, north aisle and chancel are plain and may be partly C17/C18. Moulded south aisle roof, with arched braces rising from tie beams to ridge, is C19.

Stained glass includes three panels which may be C17/C18, three C19 windows and an early C20 window, possibly by Morris and Co.

Monuments include a medieval stone coffin; the memorial to Stevens Wisdom (d.1633) with a kneeling figure within an arched recess flanked by Ionic columns on an inscribed panelled base; a wall monument to Benjamin Marten (d.1716) of Baroque drapery and cherubs in white marble; and a series of black marble ledgers to members of the Cole and Walker families.

Fittings are C19 except for the C15 panelled octagonal font, and an ancient chest with ornamental ironwork which may be C13/C14.

Listing NGR: SP3797025119

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17531215

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)