Description

SO 9627 BISHOP'S CLEEVE CHURCH ROAD
(north side)

17/30 Church of St Michael and All Angels

4.7.60

GV I

Anglican parish church. Circa 1160-1190, partly rebuilt early C14
and C17, tower c1700 by James Hill of Cheltenham, restored c1900 by
Henry Prothero. Ashlar. with stone slate roof. Nave with south
porch and transepts; south chapel butting the porch and transept;
north aisle; tower over crossing; chancel. C12 west end with
single large C15 raking buttress. Central C20 fielded-panelled
doors within a C12 roll-moulded arch supported on engaged columns,
two further arches with chevron decoration on columns, 2 restored;
hood with fleur de lys decoration and fine dragon head and gripping
beast stops. Imposts continued as string course either side.
Decorated 3-light west window with reticulated tracery above
interrupting a further string course; small rectangular window to
the gable; eaves cornice with nailhead decoration. Square C12
stair turrets, formerly leading to a western gallery with chevroned
arcading and pyramidal tops with finials. Offset pilaster buttress
at the south west corner of the C12 aisle; a small round-headed
window with a rebated surround and small rectangular window at the
west end; battlemented parapet and gargoyle dating from the C14
heightening; rectangular Cl9 two-light window to the return. C12
projecting gabled south porch with C13 upper storey; clasping
pilaster buttresses; double C20 doors with fielded panels within a
roll-moulded arch; further arch with two bands of chevron
decoration running at right angles around a keeled moulding; outer
arch with triple roll moulding supported on engaged columns with
eroded capitals with stylized foliate decoration; sundial with
metal gnomon above, cutting an earlier sundial; Cl9 two-light
window with engaged columns above; trefoil-headed lancet to the
gable. Decorated south chapel with buttresses with offsets and 3
late Perpendicular 3-light windows with casement-moulded surrounds,
one with a segmental-head, the others with rectangular surrounds;
battlemented parapet with three gargoyles, two eroded. C12 south
transept largely rebuilt C14 but retaining offset C12 pilaster
buttresses at the south-west corner and the remains of two string
courses, now interrupted by a pointed 3-light C14 window with
cusped intersecting tracery; diagonal buttress at the south-east
corner. Chancel with side and angle buttresses. with offsets and
three pointed 2-light windows with scroll-moulded hoods with carved
head stops including a sheep. Plank priest's door within a pointed
arched surround decorated with ball flower and deep ogee hood with
carved head stops and ball flower decoration. Pointed Cl9 five-
light east window with its original early C14 surround enriched
with ball flower. Chancel north wall: three C14 two-light pointed
windows with scroll-moulded hoods with beast's head stops; moulded
cornice with ball decoration. C12 north transept with offset
pilaster buttresses at each corner; string course half way up the
wall now interrupted by a C14 pointed window with cusped
intersecting tracery and hood with carved head stops. Corbel table
with varying decoration and a blocked C12 doorway with plain
tympanum, now partly obscured by the north wall of the chancel.
Rebated C19 round-headed window above the level of the string
course on the same side. Early C14 north aisle with side
buttresses with offsets and three 3-light pointed windows with
cusped intersecting tracery; battlemented parapet with moulded
string; 4 gargoyles, two now without heads. Tower with 2-light
belfry windows with trefoil heads and stone louvres within round-
headed surrounds; clock faces on the south and west; battlemented
parapet with moulded cornice with gargoyles, crocketed pyramidal
pinnacles to heavy pedestals. Flat coping and cross finials the
gable ends. Porch interior: quadripartite stone vault with roll-
moulded ribs flanked by projecting chevron. The upper chamber
conceals a well preserved section of the C12 corbel table. Cl9
double fielded-panelled door within a fine C12 archway of 2 orders
with crenellated and chevroned arches and hood decorated with
dragons with interwined tails and beak head stops. The aisle side
of the inner doorway has C12 facetted ball flower decoration and
dragon head stops in shallow relief. Perpendicular stone ceiling
with a traceried roundel with ribs leading to it in the aisle above
the door. Facetted roofs probably of c1900 to the nave, chancel,
north and south aisles. Compartmented lean-to roof dated 1671,
supported on reused C12 corbels to the north aisle. Wood block
flooring. C12 nave arcade of 3 bays with massive circular piers,
with renewed circular scalloped capitals and C17 arches, inserted
when every second pier of the original 6-bay arcade was removed.
Pointed transept and chancel arches rebuilt in 1700. C12 arches
with crenellated and chevroned decoration either side of the
chancel arch leading into the transepts. The south transept arch
is partly blocked by an ashlar-built wall containing a pointed C19
door. The north transept arch is blocked with C20 fielded
panelling and double doors, the upper part of both archways is
glazed. North transept subdivided with plasterboard to form a
vestry. Three-bay arcade with thin octagonal piers with small ball
flower ornament on the capitals to the south chapel. Decorated
tomb recess with two orders of ball flower and a trefoil-headed
double piscina in the south wall of the chapel. The cresting of a
Perpendicular altar comprising a band of quatrefoils and a
brattished cornice survives at the east end of the north aisle.
Two reused possibly C12 pieces of stone one with an incised
Anglican cross, one with bands of foliate decoration and the
inscription ' ME: JESU/ ' reset in the north wall. Altar recess
in the east wall of the north transept, to the north of which is a
spiral stone stair formerly leading up to a gallery. Stone steps
changing to a C15 ladder stair with wooden block tread and panelled
wooden balustrade from the opposite corner. C14 cinquefoil tomb
recess with triple cusps and an ogee arch with ball flower and
crocketing in the south wall of the south transept; restored
pillar piscina to the east of the tomb. Plain octagonal stone font
of 1570-1580 at the west end of the nave together with some Tudor
pews and an ancient log chest, beneath a fine C17 Jacobean
musician's gallery supported on turned wooden columns which match
the balustrading, frieze with paired dragon, lunette and 'S' scroll
motifs. C17 pulpit with plain moulded wooden panelling. The high
altar comprises a marble slab of 1794 with a triptych painted by
J. Eadie Reid c1900. C12 foliate scrollwork painting in red in the
splay of the window in the west wall of the south transept. The
north transept east wall has the remains of a C13 Crucifixion
painting in black and red. Traces of a C14 painting with part of
an inscription in late black-letter; traces of a St Christopher at
the west end of the painting. Paintings done by Sperry in 1818 in
chamber over south porch. Fragments of C14 and C15 glass in the
C12 west window of the south aisle. South-east window by Powell
1911. South-west window by Burlington and Grylls. Central window
on the south aisle by J. Eadie Reid c1890. Monuments: recumbent
Knight of c1270 within a later tomb recess on the south transept.
Classical marble monument to Mary Smith, died 1787, by Bryan of
Gloucester with palm leaf decoration also in the south transept.
Recumbent lady of c1500 at the east end of the chapel within the
railed enclosure belonging to a richly and gilded alabaster
monument to Richard de la Bere, died 1636 and his wife (q.v. The De
la Bere Hotel, Southam) comprising two recumbent effigies in front
of two pairs of black columns between which is a segmental arch
decorated with heraldic shields and garlands; upper display of
smaller black columns with statuettes of Justice and Strength and
heraldry. Chancel south wall: Baroque stone tablet to Edmund
Bedingfield, died 1695; simple slate and stone monument; similar
but smaller monument to Catherine Norwood, died 1711; small
pedimented slate and stone monument to Jane Reed, died (17)16 with
skull and hourglass at top. C19 white marble monument to Mary
Ramus, died 1809, by Bowd of Cheltenham. Chancel north wall:
monument to R.L. Townsend, died 1830, with draped urn by Gardner of
Cheltenham. Various relatively plain ledgers scattered throughout
church, mostly C18 in date.
(David Verey, The Buildings of England: The Vale and the Forest of
Dean; and V.C.H. Gloucestershire, Vol VIII)

Listing NGR: SO9608127743

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Michael & All Angels Church, Bishop's Cleeve at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7594825

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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