Church of Saint John the Baptist, Ightfield, Shropshire

Description

SJ 53 NE; 5/12

IGHTFIELD C.P.,
CHURCH STREET, Ightfield

Church of Saint John the Baptist

II*

Parish Church. Late C15, restored and chancel and east wall of nave
rebuilt in 1865. Dressed red and grey sandstone with ashlar dressings;
chancel and south porch in grey sandstone ashlar. Plain tile roofs.
3-bay nave and north aisle, 2-bay chancel, south porch and west tower.
Chancel in a Perpendicular style.

Tower: three stages externally. Moulded
plinth, chamfered string courses, diagonal buttresses with chamfered
offsets, parapet string with carved square Tudor-flower ornament, carved
gargoyles at corners (that at the north-east corner squared to the east)
and carved quatrefoil frieze below, and battlemented parapet with moulded
coping and crocketed corner pinnacles with trefoil-panelled dies.
Projecting half-octagonal stair turret to north-east with chamfered-arched boarded
door to west at base, small rectangular windows, first string course
with carved head, and pyramidal stone cap with finial. Belfry openings
of three trefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery, chamfered reveals, and
hoodmoulds (except to south and east) with carved stops (north belfry
opening offset to west). Quatrefoil sounding hole in middle stage to
north set in chamfered square recess with hoodmould. West window of
three cinquefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery, moulded reveals, and
returned hoodmould. West doorway with moulded arch, hoodmould with
carved stops and C19 boarded door with strap hinges. Clock in second
stage to south. Nave: chamfered plinth, angle buttresses with chamfered
offsets, chamfered parapet string, battlemented parapet with moulded
coping, crocketed pinnacles with trefoil-headed dies, and parapeted gable
end with chamfered coping and cross at apex. Central south window of
three cinquefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery, double hollow-chamfered
reveals and hoodmould with carved stops; right-hand window of three cinque-
foil-headed lights, unusual panelled tracery including three octafoils, the
centre elongated, moulded reveals, and hoodmould with carved stops, that
to left depicting a lion and that to right probably a boar. South doorway
to left with deeply-moulded four-centred arch, carved spandrels, returned
square hoodmould and C19 boarded door with decorative strap hinges.
C15 porch with moulded plinth, diagonal buttresses with chamfered offsets,
moulded parapet string, and battlemented parapet with panelled crocketed
finials. Deeply-moulded entrance arch has hoodmould with carved stops,
trefoil-panelled spandrels and quatrefoil frieze above under a square
hoodmould. Interior of porch with side benches. Three narrow vents in
apex of nave east gable end. North aisle: chamfered plinth, buttresses with
chamfered offsets and parapeted gable ends with stone copings and crosses
at apices. North windows of three cinquefoil-headed lights with panelled
tracery, moulded reveals and hoodmoulds with carved heads as stops.
Moulded ogee-arched doorway in right-hand bay with C19 boarded door.
East window of three cinquefoil-headed lights with panelled tracery, moulded
reveals and hoodmould with carved heads as stops (straight joint to left).
C19 west window of two cinquefoil-headed lights with cusped Y-tracery,
moulded reveals and hoodmoulds with carved heads as stops. Chancel:
chamfered plinth, buttresses (diagonal to east with moulded plinths)
with chamfered offsets, chamfered parapet string, and battlemented parapet
with trefoil-panelled crocketed pinnacles, and parapeted gable end with
stone coping and cross at apex. East window of three cinquefoil-headed
lights with panelled tracery, chamfered reveals and hoodmould with carved
heads as stops. Right-hand south window of two cinquefoil-headed lights
with cusped Y-tracery, moulded reveals and returned hoodmould. Moulded
ogee-arched priest's doorway to left with boarded door. North windows
of two cinquefoil-headed lights with cusped Y-tracery, moulded reveals
and returned hoodmould.

INTERIOR: 3-bay aisle arcade consisting of
octagonal piers with moulded capitals and chamfered bases,and double-
chamfered arches. Tall C15 double chamfered tower arch, the inner chamfer
with moulded imposts and bases and continuous outer chamfer with broach
stops. C19 chancel arch of two orders, the outer with a continuous hollow
chamfer and the inner moulded, springing from moulded stone corbels.
Chamfered rear arches throughout; the south-east nave window with moulded
reveals, hollow-chamfered and moulded reveals to aisle window, and south-
east nave window with moulded reveals. North aisle doorway with four-
centred rear arch and ogee-arched chancel south doorway with moulded
reveals. East window with returned hoodmould, sedile beneath south
chancel window and moulded cinquefoil-headed arched aumbry to north.
Small blocked rectangular openings above chancel and tower arches.
C19 four-bay nave roof with chamfered stone wall plate, moulded ogee-
arched braces springing from carved stone corbels, low brattished collar,
arched braces above with pierced spandrels, and pairs of purlins with
cusped wind braces C19 three-bay chancel roof with chamfered stone wall
plate and brattished wooden plate, trusses with cusped arched braces
springing from moulded stone corbels, ridge piece with longitudinal cusped
braces, and purlins with cusped wind braces. FITTINGS: mainly c.1865 and later. Painted
wooden reredos of three bays with central arched panel, flanking cinquefoil-headed panels, and
brattished top. Flanking panelling, with cinquefoil heads to top tier. Carved wooden
altar table. Altar rails with wrought-iron supports supporting wooden
rail. Choir stalls. Polygonal stone pulpit with stem, moulded base,
traceried panels, and brattished and moulded top; four steps up. Pews
with traceried ends. Octagonal stone font with chamfered step, stem
with moulded base, bowl with alternating carved grid and quatrefoil panels,
and wooden cover. Wrought-iron light fittings. Oak parish chest of
c.1500. C19 encaustic tiles to chancel. Some C19 stained glass.
MONUMENTS: brass (late C15) to Dame Margery Calverley, widow of Philip
Egerton, depicting a figure and a triple canopy with a figure of St.
John the Baptist above; brass to William Maynwaryng (head replaced in
1895). Drawing dated 1961 of former C14 north aisle roof with moulded
ribs and carved bosses,now replaced. The Domesday Book records the
presence of a priest at Ightfield. The 1865 restoration cost £3,000.
B.o.E., p. 155, D.H.S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches
of Shropshire, Part 8, pp. 697-99; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire
and Shropshire (1909), pp. 108-9. 1

Listing NGR: SJ5924438672

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Church of Saint John the Baptist

A Grade II* Listed Building in Ightfield, Shropshire

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Description

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