Description

LITTLE NESS C.P. LITTLE NESS
SJ 41 NW
5/135 Church of Saint Martin
27.5.53
- II*

Chapel of ease. Late C12 with C15 or early C16 alterations. Restored
and porch and vestry added in 1878. Dressed red sandstone with ashlar
dressings. Machine tile roof. Nave and chancel in one with south
porch and north vestry. Battered plinth to east and west and parapeted
gable ends with plain copings. Integral gabled ashlar bellcote to west
with 2 trefoiled ogee openings, pilasters to sides with gables above,
and cross at apex. South side: 2 identical windows, C15 or C16 to
left and c.1878 to right; 3 cinquefoil-hooded lights with panelled tracery,
moulded reveals and straight-sided arched heads. Restored round-arched
south doorway to left consisting of one order of shafts with scalloped
capitals, chevron ornament to outer arch and hoodmould with carved head
above; C19 nail-studded boarded door. Gabled timber framed porch with
chamfered stone plinth, cinquefoil arched entrance, brackets supporting
wall plates and trefoil-headed side lights. Open truss inside. North
side: buttress to centre with chamfered offsets. C19 window to right,
of 3 cinquefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery, moulded reveals
and straight-sided arch. East end: window of 3 cinquefoil-headed
lights (the centre ogee) with panelled tracery, moulded reveals and hoodmould
with carved heads as stops. West end: C19 double-chamfered lancet
with hoodmould. Vestry: chamfered plinth, lean-to roof and integral
lateral stone stack with chamfered offsets and cornice to chamfered cap.
Square window to front of 2 trefoil-headed lights with hollow-chamfered
reveals, window to east of 3 trefoil-headed lights with steps down to
chamfered-arched crypt doorway below, and chamfered-arched doorway to
west with double-chamfered reveals, moulded arch, hoodmould with lozenge-
shaped stops, and boarded door with strap hinges. Interior: probably
C17 four-bay roof with moulded wooden wall plate. Arched-braced collar
trusses with continuous slightly-ogee chamfer. Second truss from west
with C19 cusping, and hammerbeams with cusped brackets. Third truss
from west with billet-ornamented tie-beam, collar, struts and painted
wooden rood of 1927 with canopy. Collar trusses against east and west
walls. 3 moulded purlins to each side. All windows (except for east
window) with chamfered rear arches. North doorway to vestry with chamfered
arch, hoodmould with lozenge-shaped stops, and boarded door with strap
hinges. Blocked C12 round-arched doorway or window to left (see straight
joints). Fittings: early C16 German triptych set in late C19 carved
wooden frames. C17 or late C19 later seventeenth-century style altar
rails with large turned balusters and moulded handrail. Late C19 eagle
lectern. Late C19 Jacobean-style polygonal wooden pulpit with carved
panels. Late C19 wooden pews. C12 circular red sandstone pulpit with
rope moulding dividing tapered bowl and base, and C19 iron-bound wooden
cover. Pair of C18 brass chandeliers in chancel. Reset medieval floor
tiles in sanctuary and porch. Some fragments of C15 stained glass in
north window and C19 stained glass in other windows. Saint Martin's
has always been chapelry of Baschurch. There is a motte (County A.M.
number 1100) to the south-east of the church. B.o.E., p. 169; D.H.S.
Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Part
9, pp.772-3; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire (1900),
p. 156; P.A. Parott, Little Ness. The Story of a Shropshire Parish
(1935), pp.48-9.

Listing NGR: SJ4075319893

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17539992

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

• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas