Description

SK 94 SW
5/14
20-9-55
BARKSTON

CHURCH STREET
(south side)

Church of St Nicholas

G.V.
I

Parish church. C12, C13, C14, C15, C16, C18 restored 1865 and 1887.
Limestone and ironstone coursed rubble, ashlar, plain tiled and lead roofs.
West tower, nave, chancel, south porch. C13 ironstone tower of three
stages divided by chamfered string courses, moulded plinth base, three
stepped buttresses against west wall. Door on south side has round C19
head, window in lowest storey on west side has C12 details but is
probably a reconstruction of the C18 with nook shafts, round head with
label stops and a wavy line in the outer arch. One C13 pointed head
window in the middle stage on the south side with human head above the
centre of the hood mould which has beast head label stops. Belfry
lights are paired beneath monolithic tympana with plain hood moulds
above, mid wall shafts with simple chamfered capitals. Top of tower is
castellated and supported on corbels, C14 projecting gargoyles at the angles
with pinnacles above. Recessed C14 octagonal crocketed spire with paired
trefoil headed lucarnes beneath quatrefoils and decorated gables at the
base and above four alternating single light trefoil headed windows with
decorated gables.
North wall of the nave has two 3 light C15 windows with trefoil heads with
irregular quatrefoils above, all beneath a pointed head with chamfered
hood moulds. The north door in the Transitional style with chamfered
irregular quatrefoils above, all beneath pointed head with chamfered
jambs, rudimentary capitals, a pointed head with a chevron moulded hood
mould. 4 stepped buttresses. Eastwards is an early C16 3 light window
with a 4 centred arch over with deep concave moulding, no drip mould.
The roof has a parapet with 2 hacked off gargoyles. The chancel north
wall was rebuilt in 1887 but has a reset C13 2 light window with a
monolithic tympanum and champfered hood mould. Beneath are 5 fragments
of worked stone: one a C13 cross fleury, probably from a tombstone, the others
are probably C14 with incised flaring armed crosses. The east wall of the
south aisle has a plinth and a fine light C15 window with cusped trefoil
headed lights beneath 4 centred arches, debased mouchettes at the centre
and framed by double concave mouldings with moulded drip mould. Angle
buttresses on the aisle with above a parapet of tight cupsed lozenges
containing shields; angles surmounted by pinnacles with a gargoyle on the
south eastern angle. South wall of the aisle has a 2 light C15 cusped
trefoil headed window beneath a four centred arch with moulded drip mould.
There is a four centred arched door way, of which the upper stones are
C19, but the bases of the jambs with stop chamfered appear C15. Westwards
is a wide 3 light C14 window with four centred arched heads and over arch
with moulded hood mould. Western part of the south aisle is C14 and retains
a 2 light pointed head window with trefoil heads lights surmounted by
cusped trilobes, simple chamfered hood mould over. The south porch is
C15, and cuts two C14 trefoil cusped trefoil headed niches, now empty
which are surmounted by deeply moulded hood moulds which rise to ogee,
points with floriated finials. A string course, now hacked back flush with
the wall, originally ran across the south wall at sill level and the whole
must have been an elaborate scheme. The porch has angled buttresses, a simple
parapet and two pinnacles. The door is pointed with two chamfers and
moulded hood mould, rudimentary octagonal capitals. Over the door is a
rectangular plaque set in a chamfered frame with a C15 latin dedicatory
inscription in Lombardic letters commemorating Thomas Pacy. West end
of south aisle in ashlar has a three light C14 window matching that in
the south wall, with to the south a cusped trefoil headed niche with an
ogee head similar to those cut by the porch. South porch has side
benches. South door is C14 with a pointed head and roll moulded angles,
the capitals run out to form stepped string courses. The moulded hood
mould is surmounted by an ogee headed niche. C15 Lombardic lettered
graffito beneath string course to west of the door.
Inside, a Transitional C13 3 bay south arcade with round pillars on
circular bases with annular capitals and pointed arches of two chamfered
orders with hobnail decorated hood moulds. The C13 tower arch has three
chamfered orders with hobnail decoration on the chamfered capitals
and a chamfered hood mould above with beast head label stops. Above the
tower arch is a door with a flat lintel over beneath the C15 roof scar.
C13 tomb recess in south aisle and in the south wall of the chapel at
the east end of the aisle is a C14 cusped trefoil headed piscina with
lobed basin. C15 chancel arch is tall with engaged octagonal jambs,
moulded capitals with human heads with an arch of two chamfered orders above.
South of the chancel arch is a three light window with a flat lintel over
and three trefoil headed lights with ogee arches. To the north is a
C14 ogee headed doorway into the rood loft over with a C15 four centred
arched opening above. The chancel screen is good C19 work. Chancel
heavily restored in 1887 but in the south wall the eastern reveal of
a C13 pointed window is cut by C15 insertion of a wide four centred
archway into the now vanised south chapel; this space now occupied by the
organ.
Piscina and sedilia all C19, but might reflect the original arrangement.
C13 tomb recess in the north wall within the sanctuary.
All glass and fittings C19 apart from C15 octagonal chalice shaped font.
Two fragments of C14 recumbent effigies are built into the blocking of the
north door of the nave; one a priest in vestments, the other a laymen,
each beneath trefoil heads, the latter having censing angels in the spandrels.

Listing NGR: SK9329041524

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17532094

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

• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)