Description

REDDITCH B CHURCH GREEN
SP 0467 NW Town Centre

12/27 Church of St Stephen

GV II

Parish church. 1854-5 by H Woodyer with alterations and additions of
1893-4 by Temple Moore. Dressed coursed sandstone rubble with ashlar
dressings; slate roofs with gable-end parapets; chancel roofs set entirely
behind high parapets with moulding copings. North-west tower; five-bay
aisled nave with south porch; three-bay chancel with two-bay aisles and
north-east lean-to vestry. Decorated style. Most openings have hood moulds
with returns or stops. North-west tower: three stages with strings, chamfered
plinth and angled gabled buttresses with offsets at west corners; lower stage
has a cusped lancet with ogee head on the west elevation and a north archway
within which are a pair of doors with basket arches on columns with moulded
capitals and bases. The second stage has a pair of traceried lancets in the
north and west elevations. Belfry stage has 2-light louvred openings with
nookshafts; corbel table at eaves level-enriched with carved heads; octagonal
broach spire with lucarnes and weathervane. At the north-east corner of the
tower and rising to the second stage is an angled stair projection with two
loopholes and a doorway. Nave: aisles are set beneath separate gabled roofs.
Buttresses with offsets flank west window; also diagonal buttress at south-
west corner; 4-light west window above small doorway; 3-light west window in
south aisle with quatrefoil-in-circle opening in gable apex. North and south
elevations have a sill string and buttresses flanking easternmost window and
above westernmost windows; north elevation has three 3-light windows and a
4-light easternmost window; south elevation has a 2-light westernmost window,
two 3-light windows and a 4-light easternmost window. South porch has steeply
pitched gabled roof and cross finial at apex of gable-end parapet; gabled
angled buttresses with offsets; pointed archway is enriched with ball flowers,
nook shafts and shields carved on the label stops; pointed doorway within.
Chancel: plinth band and stepped sill string; angled buttresses with offsets
at east end; 5-light east window with a pair of ogee-arched lights beneath
a pointed head in the apex; 2-light south-east window and three 3-light
windows at "clerestory" level on both side elevations. Aisles have diagonal
buttresses with offsets at east corners; south aisle has a 2-light and a 3-
light window and another 3-light window at its east end; north aisle has a
2-light window, a door and an east window of curvilinear tracery. North-east
lean-to vestry has a 3-light east window and a north door. Interior: five-
bay nave arcades of two chamfered orders on octagonal piers with moulded
capitals and bases; two-bay chancel arcades on circular columns with semi-
circular east responds; also two-bay arcade between nave and chancel aisles
on octagonal piers. Pointed chancel arch (this and the chancel arcades are
by Temple Moore). Chancel has a painted plaster quadripartite vault (also by
Temple Moore). Cusped arched niche with nook shafts in south-east of chancel
(possibly piscina, close inspection not possible at time of survey July 1985).
Reredos carved as three-bay arcade with relief panels. Wrought iron screens
between nave and chancel aisles. Red marble octagonal font with octagonal
stem surrounded by eight colonnettes with foliated capitals. In the vestry
are set some medieval tiles from Bordesley Abbey. Glass: in the south aisle
are two stained glass windows by Kempe and Tower. The westernmost bays of
the nave and south aisle are separated from the main body of the church by
a mid-C20 glazed partition to form a community centre. This large church
occupies a prominent and elevated site in the town centre (BoE, p 248).

Listing NGR: SP0413367669

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26631987

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

• 
  For the Record
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)