Description

SP5318 WESTON ON THE GREEN CHURCH LANE
(North side)

18/140 Church of St. Mary

07/12/66

GV II*

Church. Pre-Conquest, early C13, 1743 for Norreys Bertie, restored 1885 by R.
Phene Spiers. Limestone rubble with ashlar dressings. Nave, south porch and west
tower. Wide 4-bay nave, with plinth and plain parapet rising from an ashlar
band, has round-arched side windows with C19 plate tracery. Lead rainwater heads
have elaborate cartouches of arms and are inscribed "NB/1743". The east wall of
the nave is blank, except for a shield of arms, but retains traces of the former
chancel, demolished early C19; much of the nave stonework appears to be re-used.
C19 south porch with a round-arched entrance below an unglazed rose window,
shelters the large south door with its very fine stone doorcase consisting of an
eared architrave, a pulvinated oakleaf frieze with a lion mask, and outer
guilloche strips rising to lion-mask consoles supporting an enriched triangular
pediment. The lower stages of the 3-stage tower are probably pre-Conquest and
include a blocked doorway on the south and, to west, a similar doorway and small
window above (now cut by a lancet) plus a small opening at the second stage;
bell-chamber stage has paired lancets within semi-circular outer arches and a
C15 parapet of blind quatrefoils with angle gargoyles and the bases of
pinnacles. Interior: the plaster doorcase has an egg-and-dart architrave, a
frieze of arabesques springing from a scallop shell, and has consoles supporting
a modillion cornice; it corresponds with the date of the nave whereas the outer
case seems late C17. The plasterwork has affinities with exactly contemporary
work at Kirtlington Park and may be by Roberts of Oxford. Chamfered Transitional
tower arch has a C19 hood mould. C12 tub font with arcaded sides. Fittings
include a large altarpiece by Pompeo Battoni, a large wrought-iron cross,
(possibly C17 Spanish), and, below the tower, 2 carved medieval bench ends in a
redundant C19 reredos and 2 detached carved stone heads. Monuments include a
small brass of 1743 and a fine series of black marble C17 and C18 ledgers to
members of the Norreys Bertie family, all with heraldic cartouches.
(V.C.H.: Oxfordshire, Vol.VI, pp.325-2; Buildings of England: Oxfordshire,
p.833).

Listing NGR: SP5311018580

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17548235

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

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)