Description

KNOWLE ST GILES CP CRICKET LANE (East side)
ST31SE CRICKET MALHERBIE

2/52 Church of St Mary Magdalen
4.2.58

GV 11*

Anglican parish church. C12 origins; but rebuilt c1855 by Rev J.M Allen, Staple and Munden, builders. Ham stone ashlar:
plain clay tiled roofs between moulded coped gables with a variety of finials, behind traceried parapets. three-cell
plan of 2-bay chancel, 3-bay nave and north transept, with a north-east corner vestry, south porch and north-west
tower, all in a scholarly Geometric style. Chancel has double plinth, trefoil traceried parapets, corner and bay
buttresses with panelled and gabletted tops, with crocketted pinnacles to corners: east window a 5-light with headstop
label, a trefoil vent over; a 2-light window on south side, east bay, with simple arched doorway up 4 steps to west
bay: further 2-light window on north side. The north-east vestry to match, but with flat roof behind plain parapet;
2-light flat headed window with square headstop label on north side, no external doorway; stairs down to boiler room
against east wall. North transept similar, but with Curvilinear tracery to parapets, and having corner gargoyles:
3-liqht north window, blank on east and west sides. Nave has Curvilinear traceried parapets; 2-light windows with
simple tracery to sides, but the west gable much more elaborate, with a 3-light reticulated window flanked by
ogee-arched niches holding C20 statues, a traceried trefoil gable light over, and the gable crowned with a crocketted
tabernacle. South porch has plinth, angled corner buttresses; trefoil-traceried parapets and moulded coped gable with
cross finial; 2-order outer arch with applied flower boss ornament and wrought-iron gate; single-order inner iron with
elaborate ironwork straps to door; side walls have 2 small sidelights, Tower of 3 stages, capped with a spire; angled
corner buttresses 2 stages hill, plinth; string courses, the top with flower boss ornament and corner gargoyles, then a
low castellated parapet; the spire small, with gabled windows to principal faces: in stage 1 the west face has a cusped
lancet window, and the north a moulded pointed-arched doorway; stage 2 has a flat-arched light with ogee tracery to
each face except the east, where there is a 2-stage octagonal-plan stairway projection; stage 3 has a 2-light
Curvilinear-traceried window with louvres on each side, set in a hollowed arched reveal with ballflower decoration and
headstop label. inside, the work scholarly and consitent: the chancel has a timber moulded rib and panel ceiling, an
ornamental carved stone dado, in elaborate piscina on the north side, and also a table-tomb in ojee niche. Chancel arch
finely moulded, the chancel floor of patterned encaustic tiles. Nave has open arch-braced collar-truss roof with
ornamental windbracinq; and fine moulded archway to north transept, and black-and-white diamond pattern stone floor.
North transept the Pitt family pew, with rib and tracery-panelled ceiling, ornamental fireplace with cast-ironback in
east wall. All fittings if the l850s, notably the octagonal wood pulpit on a slender base, the choir stalls, lectern,
pews (including a traceried front to the Pitt chapel), and a richly decorated octagonal font, which has a fine timber
openork cover. Memorials include the chancel table tomb, to Stephen Pitt-Harris, died 1848, and in the north transept
memorials to Stephen Pitt and George Pitt, both died 1865, both memorials by White of Pimlico. In nave a copy of the
Raghael Virgin and Child, with St John the Baptist and an angel, by a Miss B1andy. (Pevsner), N, Buildings of England,
South and west Somerset, l958).

Listing NGR: ST3612911540

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Church of St Mary Magdalen at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17554131

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

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)