Description

ASHTON UNDER HILL CP BECKFORD ROAD (west side)
SO 9837 - 9937
11/3 22/1 Church of St Barbara
30-7-59
- II*

Parish church. C12 origins, altered and extended C13, C14 and c1500, chancel
rebuilt 1624 for Sir John Franklin; restored in 1868 and 1913. Part limestone
ashlar, part limestone rubble with ashlar dressings; nave has stone tiled roof,
chancel and north aisle have slate roofs behind embattled parapets. West tower,
four-bay nave with north aisle and south porch, two-bay chancel. West tower:
C13 lower stage and c1500 upper stage with strings and short buttresses with
offsets at west corners and centre of west elevation. There is a loophole in
the south and west elevations of the lower stage, a narrow pointed north doorway
and a pointed and chamfered south doorway which has a hood mould with returns
and C19 door. The belfry stage has 2-light louvred bell-chamber openings with
4-centred heads and above is an embattled parapet with corner gargoyles and
pinnacles, (the latter probably added in 1624). Nave: north aisle added in
C14 and has a lean-to catslide roof, a chamfered plinth and buttresses with off-
sets at bay divisions; at the north-east corner is a large raking buttress, dated
1820. There are three 2-light windows, one having a square head and another a
hoodmould with returns, and also a 3-light window with a 4-centred head and hood-
mould with returns in the easternmost bay. At the east end is a 2-light window
with a square head. The south elevation of the nave retains some of its C12
masonry and has a C13 cusped lancet in the western end, an early C19 copy of
this window in the eastern end, a 2-light C14 window and a large c1500 window
of four lights with a 4-centred head. The south porch is C14, has a chamfered
eaves cornice and end buttresses terminating in pinnacles of probably c1624
date. At the apex of the gable end parapet is a gabled finial supporting a
sundial. There is a pointed archway of a single chamfered order and above it
is a partly blocked 2-light window and also a loophole in the gable apex.
There are similar 2-light windows in the side elevations and within there are
stone benches and the remains of a stoup in the east wall. The south doorway
is C12 and has ballflower mouldings on the outer order of the arch. It has
single shafts with trumpet-scalloped capitals and a plain recessed tympanum.
Chancel was rebuilt in 1624. It has a chamfered plinth and the window and door
openings all have hoodmoulds with returns. The 3-light east window has a
round head and has relief carvings of the dolphins from the Franklin coat of arms
in the spandrels and lions' heads on the hoodmould. There is a 2-light north
window and two ogee-arched south windows which probably incorporate some C14
tracery. The priest's door has an unusual leaf moulding over the arch and above
it is a datestone inscribed "ANNO DOMINI 1624". Interior: the four-bay north
arcade is in C15 style with 4-centred arches and octagonal columns but may be
part of the 1624 rebuilding. The 1624 chancel arch is similar in style and
detail. The nave has a C19 king-post roof and the chancel has a barrel roof.
There is a C17 altar table and a C15 octagonal font with fleurons in quatre-
foils decorating the basin and cusped pointed panels on the stem. The pulpit
and other fittings are C19. Memorials: these are mainly to members of the
Baldwyn family; in the chancel is the remains of a 1652 memorial and there is
also a mid-C19 sarcophagus relief with draped urn. In the nave and aisle is
an early C19 and three mid-C19 memorials to the Baldwyn family and a pedimeted
early C19 memorial to the Martin family. The Baldwyn family are also commemorated
by numerous mid- and late C18 ledger slabs in the nave. Glass: there are some
fragments of medieval glass in a south nave window. The chancel windows have
C19 glass. The church was known as the Church of St Andrew until c1750. It
retains a substantial part of its medieval masonry; its Norman south doorway,
the simple but unusual detailing of its C17 chancel and its ornate C15 font are
of particular note. (VCH, Glos, Vol viii, p 249; BoE, p 71 - 2).

Listing NGR: SO9967137712

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17548405

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

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)