Church of St Mary, Wick, Worcestershire

Description

WICK

648/10/875 CHURCH OF ST MARY
11-FEB-65

II*
DATES OF MAIN PHASES, NAME OF ARCHITECT:
Parish church of C12-C16, restored 1859-60 by S.W. Daukes, and 1892-93 by H. Woodyer.

MATERIALS: Limestone, laid as coursed rubble to the nave west wall, otherwise freestone, tile roofs.

PLAN: Nave with north aisle, lower and narrower chancel, north vestry and north porch.

EXTERIOR: A blocked round-headed arch in the west wall may have been a C12 tower arch, and is below a round traceried C19 window. In the nave south wall is a single C12 round-headed window, unconvincingly restored in 1892. The three 2-light square-headed windows and the doorway are C16 but renewed at the same time. The square timber-framed bellcote has a pyramid roof on wide bracketed eaves. Openings with cusped heads have louvres. The C19 north aisle projects slightly forward at the west end and has 2-light Decorated windows. The north doorway has a continuous chamfer. It is inside a timber-framed porch on a dwarf wall, with cusped arcading to the side walls. The chancel has a 3-light Decorated east window above a low central buttress. In the south wall are renewed single-light pointed and straight-headed 2-light windows, to the left of which is a C19 projection with 3 lancets. On the north side a small round-headed C12 window is concealed by the valley of the vestry roof. The vestry has a hipped roof and 4-light east window. Its round-headed north window has a re-used C12 window head.

INTERIOR: The 3-bay arcade has simple capitals to square abaci, and pointed arches, suggesting early C12 but altered c1200. The chancel arch is in similar style but of 1892. The cradle roof of the nave is principally medieval, and has a single tie beam. The chancel roof is similar but C19 and is boarded over the sanctuary. The north aisle roof is also C19, 7½ bays with collar-beam trusses. In the south-east corner of the chancel is a corbelled piscina of 1892. Walls are plastered. The nave has C19 red and black tiles with raised wood floors below benches, and the chancel has richer decorative tiles.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: The tub font may be C12 in origin but was re-cut in the C19, under a tall concave canopy of 1949 by J.N. Comper. A west gallery by Daukes has a faceted front on posts. Contemporary with it are most of the benches, which have straight-headed ends with moulded tops. On the south side later benches have notional buttresses and were added in 1892. The polygonal pulpit has open arcading. The C17 communion rail is carved and has turned balusters. Pointed commandment boards are on the west wall of the north aisle. Other chancel furnishings are mainly by Woodyer. The chancel screen has a panelled dado, 2 main lights either side of the doorway, with arcading, and finials flanking a central gable with cross. The painted reredos has rich blind Gothic panels, flanked by small shield-bearing angels. Choir stalls and frontals have poppy heads. There are some good-quality stained-glass windows. Chancel windows by C.E. Kempe are the crucifixion in the east window (1893), and SS Bartholomew, Peter and Paul in south windows (1895). The nave south windows show the Annunciation, by William Pearce Ltd (1911), a window by Mayer & Co (1905) of the Good Samaritan and wife of noble character, and a semi-abstract millennium window by Gerald Paxton (1999).

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: A churchyard cross was restored by C.G. Hare in 1911 (LBS no 445448). The lych gate of 1899 is by G.F. Bodley (LBS no 445447). Each is listed separately.

HISTORY: The core of the church is C12 and comprised nave with north aisle and chancel, and possibly also a tower. The church was heavily restored in 1859-60 by S. Whitfield Daukes (1811-80) architect of Gloucester and London, who rebuilt the north aisle and provided new seating and a gallery. Enlargement of the chancel and vestry, and re-casing the nave south wall with renewal of its windows, was undertaken by Henry Woodyer (1815-96) in 1892-93.

Samuel Whitfield Daukes (1811-80) was born in London but became a pupil of a York architect, James Piggott. He began practice c1837 and founded a practice in Gloucester with John R. Hamilton which was later to include James Medland (1808-94) and Alfred W. Maberley. He was architect to the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway in 1839-42 but moved to London in 1848. Gloucestershire and Worcestershire continued to provide many commissions but his later work is spread widely and includes houses in London, a Congregational church in Salford, and a rectory in Cambridgeshire.

Henry Woodyer (1815-96), having considerable private means, was a `gentleman-architect' who based himself at Grafham, Surrey. He was pupil of the great church architect William Butterfield and established a strong reputation himself for his church work. The greatest concentration of his work is in Surrey and the adjacent counties. His masterpiece is often considered to be Dorking parish church.

SOURCES:
A. Brooks and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, 2007, pp 659-60.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The church of St Mary, Wick, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* For the special interest of its C12 nave arcade.
* The nave retains a medieval cradle roof.
* It has good-quality late C19 and early C20 stained glass.
* It has other interior features of interest, including a C17 communion rail.

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Church of St Mary

A Grade II* Listed Building in Wick, Worcestershire

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