Description

PREES C.P. CHURCH STREET
SJ 5433-5533
(south side)
14/61 Church of St. Chad
-
28.10.60
GV II*

Parish church. Late C14 on pre-Conquest site with large C15 porch,
tower of 1758 and chancel largely of 1864, when whole church was restored.
Regularly coursed and dressed yellow and red sandstone with pink sandstone
ashlar to chancel (south side); plain tile roofs with coped verges.
Nave and chancel in one; north aisle; north-west tower and north porch.
Tower: in 3 stages; embattled parapet with crocketed corner pinnacles
and weathervanes, gargoyles to moulded cornice on north, south and
west sides. Windows with Y-shaped tracery to belfry and roundels with
keystones to second stage on north and south, latter filled by clock
of 1897; second stage on west has window with plain Y-tracery similar
to those of belfry; pointed window below to first stage. Pointed north
doorway approached by flight of 5 steps. Nave: buttressed in 3 bays;
cusped 3-light windows to centre and east bays, former square-headed,
latter with 4-centred arch and elongated quatrefoils to head; small
window with cusped head in rectangular projection to right of east
window, formerly connected with rood screen. Pointed double-chamfered
C14 doorway in west bay has hoodmould and head-stops. Vesica-shaped
west window of 1856. Chancel: buttressed in 3 bays; south side has
a C19 window of 3 cusped lights with quatrefoils above to west bay;
small pointed doorway to centre with hoodmould and head-stops possibly
reused from an earlier doorway; small 2-light cusped window with quatrefoil
above to east bay. Pointed east window of 3 cusped lights with large
multifoil above. Stone to left of doorway has inscription, now partly
illegible, to Hugh Lowes, died 1643. Windowless north wall retains
some medieval stonework to lower courses. North aisle: buttressed
in 4 bays; square-headed 3-light windows with pointed heads to 2 eastern
bays and two 3-light trefoil-headed windows with cusping above and
segmental arches to 2 western bays; east window of 3 lights has intersecting
Y-tracery. Stone above second window from east has a carving of a
pick-like object of indeterminate date. Late C15 porch in west bay
has stepped gable, moulded cornice and empty statue niches flanking
richly moulded pointed doorway with head-stops; diagonal corner buttresses.
Plain C19 pointed south doorway has encaustic tile above recording 're-edifying'
of church in 1864. Interior: collar beam roofs to nave, chancel and north
aisle with arch bracing to nave, 2 tiers of circular windbraces and
richly carved wooden corbels; dated 1602 with Sandford family coat-
of-arms to east collar beam in north aisle. Stone corbels at west
end of aisle probably survive from medieval roof. Mid-C14 four-bay
arcade separates nave from aisle; short octagonal piers with moulded
capitals and plinths and pointed double-chamfered arches, westernmost
arch cut by east wall of tower. The same arcade carries on for a further
2 bays to divide chancel from north (former Sandford) chapel at east
end of north aisle. At the junction between nave and chancel the wall
has been shaved off for former rood screen with position of doorways
to loft visible; similar evidence for screen between north aisle and
chapel, which has restored trefoil-headed piscina in south wall.
Restored C14 choir stalls against south wall of chancel have plain
misericords except that to west, which has carved male head and leaf
decoration; C19 pews in nave and aisle incorporate reused C17 and C18
panelling. Wood carving of Charity (probably C16 or early C17) fixed
to pew next to north door. Jacobean communion table, carved with birds
and floral decoration, currently in north aisle and 2 oak chests probably
C18. Two C18 paintings on wooden boards flanking south doorway represent
Moses and Aaron and probably once flanked altar; the nail-studded door
is probably late medieval but has been completely re-planked on external
side. Octagonal font of 1849 replaced that now outside church (q.v.).
Stained glass: fragments of C15 glass brought from Battlefield reassembled
in north-east window of north aisle; also good collection of mid- to
late C19 glass throughout church, most notably the south-west nave
window (c.1864) by David and Charles Evans of Shrewsbury, the east
window of the north aisle (c.1887) with Minton tiles beneath and the
engraved glass (c.1855) in the north-west window of the north aisle.
Monuments: C19 wall tablets to members of Sandford family in north
aisle chapel and to Hill family in chancel, outstanding amongst which
is the memorial by Thomas Carline depicting the burial of Sir John
Hill (died 1824). Small brass to Robert Hand (died 1757) fixed to
wall by north door. 3 benefactors' boards in tower, earliest dated
1696. A priest is mentioned here in Domesday and the large size of
the parish suggests that the church, which was collegiate until the
late C13, may originally have been a minster. B.O.E., pp.230-1;
D. H. S. Cranage, The Churches of Shropshire, Part 8 (1906), pp.712-16.

Listing NGR: SJ5569833456

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17542118

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

• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)