Church of St Eata, Atcham, Shropshire

Description

SJ 50 NW
5/17
13.6.58

ATCHAM C.P.
ATCHAM

Church of St Eata

GV
I

Parish church. C12 nave and late C13 chancel incorporating reused Roman
blocks from Wroxeter; circa 1300 tower with late C15 or early C16 top
stage; south porch dated 1685 restored in late C19. Dressed red and
grey sandstone including large Roman blocks with Lewis holes and carved
scale work, ashlar top stage to tower; machine plain tile roofs. Nave,
chancel, south porch, and west tower. Tower: 4 stages. Splayed base,
circa 1300 clasping west buttresses up to third stage; diagonal buttresses
to top stage, extending to top of first stage to west; set back to top
stage with carved quatrefoil frieze corner gargoyles, parapet with truncated
panelled pinnacles, and pyramidal cap with weathervane. 4-centred arched
belfry openings with hollow chamfered reveals, paired trefoil-headed
louvred lights and returned hoodmoulds with carved stops; louvred paired
lancet third-stage openings have central quatrefoil-section shafts with
moulded bases and capitals; large second-stage west lancet with chamfered
reveals; round-arched west portal consisting of 5 orders of shafts with
moulded bases and capitals and pair of C19 boarded doors. Clock above
belfry opening to north; weathering indicating former roof-line visible
on east wall. Nave; south side: 2 large grey sandstone ashlar buttresses
to right dated 1817. 2 windows, late C19 to left with 2 trefoiled ogee-
headed lights, panelled tracery chamfered reveals and returned hoodmould;
C15 or early C16 to right with 3 trefoil ogee-headed lights, panelled
tracery, chamfered reveals, and returned hoodmould with carved stops; C13
doorway to left with roll-moulded arch, hoodmould with carved stops and
pair of C17 boarded doors dated "WH/15/CW/1685". Gabled timber framed
porch on low sandstone ashlar walls, entrance with shafts supporting
brackets, carved tie beam inscribed: "SAM JEWKES THO LISTER CH. WARD",
and moulded barge boards. Tablet above south door inscribed: "SI CHRISTUM .
DISCIS . SATIS . EST . SI.CETERA . DISCIS/SI . CHRISTUM . NESCIS . NIHIL .
EST . SI . CETER . DISCIS" with translation beneath; half-H tablet high
up on wall to left of porch inscribed: "In a Vault underneath/lieth the
remains of/the Revd/SAMUEL FOWLER". North side: pair of large grey
sandstone ashlar buttresses to right dated 1817. Small late C12 round-
arched window to left with straight-sided rear arch; large C15 or early
C16 window to right with 3 trefoiled ogee-headed lights, panelled tracery,
chamfered reveals and hoodmould with carved stops. Chancel: high chamfered
plinth; probably C19 verge parapet to east. 2 bays with central buttresses;
2-light windows with Y-tracery and double chamfered reveals; south side
with double chamfered doorway to left with boarded door and hoodmould with
carved stops; triple east lancet with double chamfered reveals and pair
of double chamfered T-shaped openings in plinth beneath. Interior: double-
chamfered tower arch springing from single-chamfered imposts; possibly
C15 single framed nave roof with arch-braced collars and sets of 3 purlins;
C17 tie-beam chancel roof with collars and cambered tie beams resting on
brackets; tomb recess with hoodmould in south wall of chancel; architectural
fragment of carved foliage high up in north wall of nave. Fittings
include: panelled octagonal stone font dated "IS/WP/CW/1675"; C17 reading
desk with fluted seat back-panels and 4 carved arched front-panels depicting
scenes from The Prodigal Son (probably not English); two C17 carved wooden
panels on south wall of nave, also probably imported; C19 wooden pulpit
with blank panels and carved foliated frieze; late C17 chair stalls
containing some earlier work; late C19 altar rails; 10 hatchments to the
Burton and Berwick families; vestry beneath tower contains painted Burton
and Lingen family coat-of-arms, C17 pew, and probably early C19 painted
benefactors board. Stained glass: late C15 glass in east window brought
from Bacton in Herefordshire in 1811 and depicting 3 figures with the
kneeling family of Miles ap Harry (Parry) below; C15 and C16 glass in a
north window, also from Bacton; late C19 west window depicting St Eata,
in memory of John Lingen Burton of Longner Hall (q.v.). Monuments
include: inscribed alabaster slab in south-east corner, of 1524 to Edward
Burton and his family of Longner Hall (q.v.), depicting figure under
canopied niche and 2 shields of arms (inscription on brass plaque beneath
reads: "that it was removed from a freehold pew belonging to the estate
of Longner in St Chads, Shrewsbury, which collapsed in July 9. 1788)";
brass plaque on west end of south choir stalls in memory of the sons and
daughters of John Calcot and his wife, of Berwick; other late C18 and
early C19 wall tablets. A west gallery was dismantled in 1896 and the 1858
organ was enlarged and resited. The historian Ordericus was baptised in
the church on Easter Day, April 5 1075. St Eata, from which the village
takes its name, became the Bishop of Hexham and died in 685. In his
proposals for the landscaping of Attingham Park Humphry Repton suggested
the addition of a spire to the church as an eyecatcher, but this was never
implemented. D.H.S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of
Shropshire, Vol.7, Pp.556-60; B.o.E., Shropshire, p.66.

Listing NGR: SJ5409609199

External Links

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British Listed Buildings

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Church of St Eata

A Grade I Listed Building in Atcham, Shropshire

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