Description

SE 80 NW KEADBY WITH ALTHORPE CHURCH LANE
(south side)
Althorpe
8/126 Church of St Oswald
1.3.67

GV I

Parish church. Rebuilt 1483 for Sir John Neville, with earlier origins to
nave, and reused C14 responds to chancel arch. Nave roof lowered c1794;
restorations of 1864 included reflooring, reseating; nave roof repaired
1928. North aisle re-roofed 1955; porch rendered c1970; restorations of
1983-4, including unsympathetic rendering to plinth and parapet. Roche
Abbey limestone ashlar to tower, chancel and vestry east wall; roughly
coursed limestone rubble and reused ashlar to nave, north aisle and north
wall of north chapel and vestry; ashlar dressings. Rendered brick to south
porch, brick internal partition wall between vestry and chapel. Lead roof
to nave, copper roof to north aisle and chapel, Welsh slate roofs to
chancel and porch. Perpendicular style. West tower with west entrance, 4-
bay nave with south porch and north aisle, 3-bay chancel with 2-bay north
chapel (now incorporating organ chamber) and vestry. Moulded plinth
throughout. 3-stage tower: full-height diagonal buttresses with offsets,
stair lighting slits to south-west angle. First stage: fine pointed moulded
west door has shafted roll mouldings and broad hollow chamfer enriched with
carved heads, flowers etc, flanking buttress shafts with crocketed
pinnacles, and crocketed ogee hoodmould with finial rising to fleuron frieze
with carved crown to left and grotesque to right; pointed 3-light traceried
window above with restored mullions and original hoodmould with worn carved
grotesque stops; hoodmould continued as moulded string course between
stages. Second stage: recessed moulded panel above west window with carved
shield bearing arms of Neville quartered with those of Newmarch and Mowbray,
above this a panel carved in high relief with the mantled helm of Neville
surmounted by the bull's head crest, and flanking this, 2 heraldic panels
bearing arms of Neville, Mowbray and Newmarch; south side has single slit
light, heraldic panel and relief carving of ram and tun (reputed to be a
rebus for the builder, Lambton). Moulded string course, continued around
buttresses. Pointed 2-light traceried belfry windows with single transoms,
hoodmoulds and headstops. Moulded string course with carved heads and
fleurons, gargoyles to angles and above belfry openings, coped embattled
parapet with crocketed angle pinnacles. Nave: south side has buttresses
with offsets between bays, coursed ashlar below sill level; pointed 3-light
traceried windows with restored mullions; string course to stepped-in
clerestory with blocked truncated windows, corbelled string course and coped
embattled parapet with C20 rendered merlons. Porch: pointed outer arch
beneath raised gable; pointed inner arch with wave and hollow mouldings, oak
door with moulded ribs and wrought-iron strap hinges. North aisle:
buttresses with offsets between bays, pointed door with wave and hollow
mouldings, 4-centred-arched 3-light windows with plain tracery and restored
mullions. Clerestory similar to south side, but rendered. Chancel:
diagonal buttresses with crocketed ogee gablets, buttresses between bays
with large gargoyles, both with ornate moulded offsets, and rising to
diagonal pinnacle shafts. South side has pointed moulded door with
hoodmould and angel stops, pointed 3-light traceried windows; very fine
pointed 5-light east window with crenellated supertransoms and hoodmould
with carved figure stops of bishop and king; moulded string course, coped
embattled parapet with moulded coping, truncated pinnacles, and relief
carving to west gable of Mowbray arms and crest. North chapel/vestry:
pointed 3-light traceried north window; east side has plinth and diagonal
buttress similar to chancel, small pointed 2-light cinquefoiled window with
wave-moulded reveal, and narrow trefoiled slit light above. Moulded string
course, coped parapet. All windows have Perpendicular tracery and moulded
reveals; those to chancel and tower are particularly fine, with cinquefoiled
ogee lights, wave-and-hollow moulded reveals, hoodmoulds and carved figure
stops. Interior. 4-bay nave arcade of tall pointed double-chamfered arches
on octagonal piers and responds with plain-moulded capitals and bell-shaped
bases. Tall narrow pointed double-chamfered tower arch with similar
octagonal responds, capitals and bases. Tower staircase doorway has hollow-
chamfered 4-centred arch with incised spandrels below corbelled string
course, plain oak board door. Moulded segmental-arched reveal to west door.
Original floor to belfry. Chamfered segmental-arched reveals to nave and
north aisle doors. Pointed double-chamfered chancel arch on reused C14
shafted responds with plain-moulded capitals and bases, mutilated to
accommodate screen; square-headed opening (former doorway to rood loft) from
north aisle, with lower 4 steps in situ. North aisle, open to chapel, has
carved image bracket on north wall with shield bearing arms of Neville and
Newmarch flanked by foliage. 2-bay arcade to north chapel of pointed
arches, moulded with a deep three-quarter round hollow between shallow
hollow chamfers, on an octagonal pier with moulded capital and base on
square pedestal with broach stops, and responds with continuous broach-
stopped outer chamfer and octagonal shafts to inner order with moulded
capitals and bases. Chamfered ogee piscina to north chapel. Chancel has
pointed chamfered reveal to south door, low chamfered ogee-headed doorway to
vestry with panelled board door, crenellated supertransoms to windows,
trefoiled ogee piscina with hollow chamfer, broach stops and mutilated
scalloped bowl; fine triple sedilia with projecting moulded bench seat,
buttress shafts with moulded plinths, offsets and crocketed pinnacles,
castellated half-round canopies fronted by nodding crocketed ogee arches
beneath fleuron friezes, with ribbed vaulting to central canopy and carved
bosses and corbels to side canopies. Central seat contains re-set late C14
brass to William de Lound, vicar of Althorpe, with small half figure above
Latin inscription. Ornate Gothic-style wall tablet on nave south wall to
William Kettlewell of 1870, with trefoiled arch on marble shafts, crocketed
ogee hood with angel stops. Reset C15 eight-bay nave roof with moulded tie
beams and carved friezes, moulded principal rafters, twin side-purlins and
ridge-purlin. Good C15 6-bay chancel roof with corbelled 4-centred-arch
trusses (the 2 main trusses with open traceried panels and crenellated
transoms), finely moulded ridge-purlin and single side-purlins. C15 five-
bay chancel screen, much restored, with moulded posts and mid rail, central
ogee arched opening flanked by 4-centred-arch lights with ornate
Perpendicular tracery and crocketed ogee arches, blind-traceried lower
panels, and ribbed vaulted hood with carved frieze. Late C17 - early C18
altar rails with bulb-on-vase-balusters and corniced rail. C19 pews, those
to chancel with ornate open traceried panels and crenellated tops. C15
octagonal font with carved rosette frieze to bowl, and shaft with scalloped
stops. Natte's drawing shows the nave rendered, the clerestory blocked and
the brick porch in place by August 1794. The Perpendicular window tracery
is similar in style to that current in East Yorkshire in the C15. N Pevsner
and J Harris, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, 1978, p 169; W B
Stonehouse, The History and Topography of the Isle of Axholme, 1839, pp 364-
76; Associated Architectural and Archaeological Societies' Reports and
Papers, vol 18, part 1, 1885, p ix; ibid, vol 28, part 1, 1905, pp xii-xiii;
drawings by C Nattes, 1794, Banks Collection, Lincoln City Library.

Listing NGR: SE8347809625

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17537875

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)