Description

TL 12 SE KINGS WALDEN CHURCH ROAD
(East side)
Kings Walden

4/10 Church of St. Mary
27.5.68
I

Parish church. C12-C13 origin, early C13 nave arcades, late C14 W tower,
C15 clearstorey, early C17 brick NE Hale family mortuary chapel now the
vestry. Restored 1868 by Eden Nesfield when in partnership with Norman
Shaw, with new S porch, refacing of nave, chancel and aisles, and part
rebuilding of chancel and aisles. New oak chancel roof 1909. Flint
rubble with coursed knapped flint facing and deep ashlar parapets to all
except tower and vestry, with stone dressings. Tower has remains of
plaster facing, Totternhoe stone dressings, and several SPAB type tile
repairs to stonework. Oak arcaded S porch on flint and stone plinth. Red
brick. Vestry in English-bond with oak window tracery. Steep old red
tile roofs to chancel, S porch, and vestry, the rest low pitched behind
crenellated parapets (plain to aisles). A village church of square
ended chancel, N vestry, 3-bays nave, aisles, S porch, and large W
tower. The chancel has a high open timber roof with embattled collar
beams, and a patterned floor of coloured and encaustic tiles with
several stone steps to sacristy. Brass inscribed to Sibbill Barber
d.1614. C13 double piscina at SE with lancet window over. Elaborate C13
small S doorway with external jamb shafts and ironwork decoration to
plank door. 3-lights traceried E window with stained glass by Kempe
1901, and similar window to S wall. Stone relief reredos, carved oak
ciborium in arched recess to N of altar, and probably polychrome organ
case and ironwork communion rail, from Nesfield's restoration with
carved work by James Forsyth. Carved serpent by vestry door from Hall
family crest. Alabaster wall monument to Timothy Sheppard, d.1613. Early
C14 wide chancel arch of 2 chamfered orders with half-octagonal
responds, moulded caps, and C15 Perp painted wooden screen with ogee
traceried upper panels and cresting. The 3-bays nave has a plain open
timber roof of king-post roof, tie-beams, wallposts and 2 large C15
stone corbells to E-truss. Narrow rood-loft doorway high up at NE.
3-bays N and S arcades have 2 chamfered orders, short circular pillars
and Transitional scallop, waterleaf and trefoil caps. 3 3-lights
clearstorey windows each side. The narrow N aisle has an open timber
roof with some timbers of C15, a 3-lights pointed N window, a
single-light trefoil W window, C14 pointed doorway and an image bracket
to N of E window. Square-headed piscina at NE. The floor level of this
aisle appears to have been lowered. Wall monuments to Roland Hale
d.1688, and Richard Hale, 1689. Slightly wider S aisle extends a little
to E overlapping chancel, with blocked N communicating door and a wall
locker with door rebate to left. Cinquefoil C14 piscina opposite in S
wall. C15 open timber roof, and C15 3-lights windows at E and S, and
2-lights at SW. The SE window has stained glass and inscribed stone
tablet 1867 by William Morris of 3 archangels, uninfluenced by
Burne-Jones. S doorway C15 of 2 moulded orders with 4-centred arched
head under square head with quarterfoil spandrels, deep hollows, slender
attached shafts with small angels below caps. Head-stops recut and C19
plank door of one leaf with elaborate wrought iron decorative hinge
plates. Gabled S porch has arched entrance, cusped bargeboards,
plaster-vaulted interior, and chip-carved roundels on corner posts one
with chrysanthamum motif (also on rainwater heads). The massive W tower
is of 3 stages marked by chamfered stone bands, stepped corner
buttresses, projecting polygonal stair turret at SE carried higher than
the parapet, C14 2-lights bell-opening on each face with quartrefoil in
pointed head, small single-light window to middle stage, 2-lights C14 W
window, and pointed W door with old oak door. Tower arch to nave C14 of
2 chamfered orders, 2-centred, with jamb shafts. The brick vestry is
rectangular with moulded gable parapets, plinth, plat-band carried up
over 2 depressed pointed segmental arched N window openings as a deep
drip. Oak mullions to 3-lights windows formerly painted as stone, with
old leaded lattice glazing fixed to ferromenta. More elaborate wooden
tracery to interior may have been added. Pointed low doorway down steps
in middle into vault. Similar E window. (RCHM (1911)135-6: VCH
(1912)35-7: Kelly (1914)171: Pevsner (1977)218-9).

Listing NGR: TL1602323507

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17529019

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

• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)