Description

WHITCHURCH RURAL C.P. CHURCH LANE, Ash Magna
SJ 54 SE
(south-east side)
2/24 Christ Church
-
- II

Parish Church. 1836, by George Jenkin, extended in 1901, and porch altered
c.1918. Red brick with grey sandstone ashlar and some red sandstone ashlar dressings.
Slate roof. 6-bay nave and partly integral west tower, in a Lancet style.
One-bay chancel of 1901, in a Decorated Gothic style. Tower: 2 stages
externally. Chamfered plinth, diagonal buttresses to first stage with
3 closely-spaced chamfered stone offsets, and section of west front corbelled
out with chamfered offset above and square stone panel with circular inner
panel (possibly intended for clock) and trefoil-panelled spandrels.
Coved stone string course to battlemented parapet with chamfered stone
coping and panelled and crocketed corner pinnacles. Paired louvred
chamfered lancets to belfry with stone cills. Porch beneath tower:
double chamfered west archway with moulded bases and capitals and hoodmould
with carved stops (inscription to inner chamfer: "Enter into His Gates
with Thanksgiving"). Interior of porch has west doorway with 4-centered
arch and 4-panelled door with quatrefoil panels to base. Panelled oak
side benches and 1914-18 war memorial (in memory of Ivor Bulkeley). Walls
lined as ashlar. Nave: chamfered stone plinth, buttresses with chamfered
corners and 3 closely-spaced chamfered stone offsets, corbelled eaves,
and parapeted gable ends with chamfered stone copings. Small-paned cast-
iron windows with intersecting tracery (2 windows replaced with stained
glass in late C19), chamfered reveals and painted stone cills. Circular
quatrefoil panels with central uncarved shield in western bays to north
and south. Chamfered-arched north doorway in north-western bay with
pair of 2-panelled Gothic doors. Chancel: chamfered stone plinth, corbelled
eaves, and parapeted gable end with shaped stone kneelers, chamfered stone
coping and cross at apex. Triple-chamfered lancets to east with chamfered
brick sub-cill and continuous hoodmould with carved stops. Windows to
north and south consisting of 2 trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil
in tracery, hollow-chamfered reveals and returned hoodmoulds. Interior:
alterations and additions of c.1900 and 1936. Nave walls lined as ashlar.
Windows with double-quirked beaded corners. 4-bay nave roof of 1836.
Bolted collar and tie-beam trusses with queen struts and raking struts;
brackets with pierced sexfoils in spandrels. Pairs of purlins and boarded
soffit. Small chamfered rectangular opening in west wall above gallery.
Panelling at west end of nave with unfluted pilaster strips, dated 23rd October
1936 (centenary). Three Gothic west doors with 1936 surrounds consisting
of fluted Ionic pilaster strips. Circa 1836 west door with decorative
strap hinges,and 4-panelled outer doors. West gallery on pair of fluted
Ionic square posts (1936 alteration) and arcaded Gothic-panelled front.
Three chamfered four-centered arched west doorways to gallery. C19 or
early C20 Gothic dado panelling to nave and chancel, nave panelling to
right of chancel arch is inscribed as a 1914-18 war memorial. Chamfered
four-centered chancel arch. Ceiled wagon roof to chancel. Chamfered
rear arches to chancel windows. Fittings: mostly late C19. Reredos
and wrought-iron and wooden altar rails. Choir stalls. Octagonal wooden
pulpit dated 1899, with profusely carved panels and frieze. Wooden lectern.
Plain pews with flush-panelled backs. Octagonal stone font with moulded
base and top, and wooden cover with decorative wrought-iron work. Encaustic
floor tiles to chancel. Stained glass in east window and one north
and one south window of nave. Various minor C19 monuments. North-
west vestibule to gallery, with walls lined as ashlar. Circa 1836 staircase
with closed string, rectangular- section stick balusters (2 per tread),
tall columnular foot newel, and handrail. The ecclesiastical parish
of Ash Magna was formed in 1844. The chancel was built in memory of
the Rev. Henry Brumell Finch, vicar from 1882 to 1899. This church is
a Gothic version of Christ Church, Tilstock (q.v.), the plans of which
are almost identical (cf. partly integral tower and short chancel, now
rebuilt at Ash). The Church is aligned north-west/south-east but this
description refers to liturgical north, south etc. B.o.E., p. 61; D.H.S.
Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Part
8, p. 667.

Listing NGR: SJ5787440218

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Register. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 27 October 2017.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26307623

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

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)