Description

ASTLEY C.P. ASTLEY
SJ 51 NW
7/1 Church of Saint Mary
13.6.58
GV II*

Chapel of ease, now parish church. C12, partly rebuilt in the C15
or C16, tower (and probably vestry) added in 1837, and nave and chancel
restored in 1883. Dressed yellow/grey sandstone with C19 work in
tooled grey sandstone ashlar. Plain tile roof. Nave and chancel
in one, north vestry, and west tower. Tower: 3 stages. Plinth,
diagonal buttresses with chamfered offsets, chamfered string course
between first and second stages to west, chamfered offset to belfry,
moulded parapet string, battlemented parapet with chamfered coping,
and pyramidal cap with weathervane. Louvred 2-light belfry openings
with Y-tracery, chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds with carved heads
as stops. West front with circular clock to second stage, 2-light
square window to second stage with stone mullion and hoodmould with
carved heads as stops, and west doorway consisting of a pair of doors
with panelled tracery, moulded Tudor arch with trefoil-panelled spandrels,
and square hoodmould with carved heads as stops. First-stage chamfered
lancet to south. Nave and chancel: chamfered plinth, C14 or C15
diagonal buttresses to east and west with chamfered offsets, large
old buttresses to north and south with chamfered offsets, C19 chamfered
stone eaves, and parapeted gable ends, with finial at apex to east.
South side: nave has small ogee cinquefoil-headed window to left with
carved spandrels (reportedly dated 1568 but illegible at time of survey
- January 1987), restored C15 or C16 square-headed window to right
of 2 round-arched lights, and central blocked C12 doorway consisting
of one order of shafts with stiff leaf capitals and arch with square
chevron ornament. Chancel has 2 square-headed windows of 2 cinquefoil-
headed lights (right-hand one C15 or C16) and probably C16 central
priest's doorway with rounded reveals and boarded door. North side:
nave has 2 square-headed windows of 2 cinquefoil-headed lights. East
end: C19 window of 3 trefoil-headed lights with intersecting cusped
tracery and chamfered reveals. North vestry with chamfered stone
eaves, parapeted gable and north window of 2 cinquefoil-headed lights
under a square head. Interior: C19 three-bay nave roof, possibly
incorporating some older parts; moulded wall plate, trusses with large
(possibly older) chamfered tie-beams, C19 pierced wooden brackets resting
on shaped stone corbels, king posts, and chamfered principal rafters,
and ridge piece and single purlins. 2-bay chancel roof, similar to
nave but with central chamfered arch-braced truss springing from stone
corbels. East window with chamfered rear arch. Chamfered depressed-
arched vestry doorway with arched niche to left. 2-light window in
second stage of tower. Porch beneath tower with side benches and
2 panelled doors into nave with panelled reveals and architrave and
cornice. C19 fittings: painted reredos. Altar rails. Wooden rood
screen of 2:1:2 bays with cusped openings and shafts to loft with rood
above. Wooden pulpit. Octagonal stone font with quatrefoil panels.
Stone Gothic memorial tablet to Anne, wife of John Bishton of Astley
House (d. 31 March 1838) consisting of cinquefoil arch with flanking
pinnacles and crocketed finial. Some C19 stained glass. The chancel
appears to have been added or rebuilt at a later date, probably in
the C15 or C16 (see straight joints to north and south. D.H.S. Cranage,
An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Shrewsbury
Volume, pp. 838-9; B.o.E. p. 62.

Listing NGR: SJ5297518819

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17540118

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.

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