Survey Data
Reg No
40401508
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1855 - 1860
Coordinates
241320, 314804
Date Recorded
13/06/2012
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding Gothic Revival Church of Ireland church, built 1856, with three-bay nave and diagonally positioned three-stage entrance tower and spire to south-west corner, chancel to east, and vestry to south-east. Steeply pitched slate roof to nave and chancel, clay ridge tiles, stone weatherings to barges, cast-iron gutters on decorative cast-iron brackets. Octagonal-profile ashlar spire with lucarnes and weathervane above octagonal ashlar belfry stage. Pointed openings to belfry with hood mouldings over triangular stone weatherings forming transition to square-plan lower stages of tower over tiered diagonal corner buttresses. Squared rock-faced limestone walls to lower stages of tower and nave. Wall buttresses to north side of nave, tiered diagonal buttresses to corners of chancel and north corner of nave. Cusped lancet windows to nave with ashlar surrounds and metal lattice windows with ventilation lights, twin-light stone tracery windows to west gable and to centre bay of north having hood moulding on carved head labels, triple-light tracery with quinfoil roundel and stained glass windows to chancel window. Pointed arch double-leaf studded timber main entrance door with ornate strap hinges, set in recessed and bevelled surround with hood moulding. Square-headed vestry door with corbelled lintel and studded timber door with ornate strap hinges. Exposed timber rafters and paired trusses standing on corbels to interior. Timber sills and timber dado to ends of nave. Decorative tiled floor to aisle, entrance area, and area in front of altar, raised timber floor under pews, steps to altar area. Timber pulpit, altar, and pews with curved end to pew at entrance. Graveyard to site, surrounded by recent stone boundary walls with metal entrance gates.
Appraisal
The design of this church has been attributed to Joseph and William J. Welland, architects to the Ecclesiatical Commissioners, and was probably built by the contractor William Hague senior. Its siting makes it a landmark in the village. It was paid for by the Sanderson family of neighbouring Cloverhill demesne, who also built estate worker's houses in the village. The composition is light and well balanced and the canted tower is distinctive with an unusual circuitous entrance sequence through the vestibule below. The interior retains many original features, which are finely crafted and add to the building's artistic interest. It is a distinctive example of inventive nineteenth-century Gothic Revival church architecture and contributes strongly to the architectural character of both the village and county.