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1. St Peter, Alstonfield, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
St Peter's has a clerestoried nave with four-bay N and S aisles. The S arcade is 14thc., while the N and the square-headed clerestory windows date fromc.1500. The nave has N and S doorways, both under porches. The S doorway is 12thc. work and its 13thc. porch is now used as a store for building materials; the N doorway is 16thc. The chancel arch is also 12thc., while the chancel includes three 13thc. lancets in its side walls. The chancel was rebuilt in 1590 (inscription) and restored in 1870. The W tower arch is tall and Perpendicular. The tower has a 16thc. W doorway, diagonal buttresses and an embattled parapet with crocketed pinnacles at the corners, but the Y-traceried bell-openings are stylistically ofc.1300. The nave bases are concealed by the present floor, and in the chancel the piscina is very low in the wall, both features indicating that the original floor level was lower than it is now. Construction is of coursed rubble including roughly squared large blocks of ashlar. There are Anglo-Saxon fragments built into the stonework around the N porch and others loose at the W end of the N aisle. The Romanesque features described here are the S doorway and the chancel arch.
2. St Leonard, Blithfield, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
Blithfield takes its name from the river Blythe, a tributary of the Trent, and is some 8 miles E of the centre of Stafford and 4 miles N of Rugeley. There is no village any longer; all that remains are the hall, the church and the old rectory (damaged by fire in 1962 and rebuilt into apartments in the 1980s). The old village disappeared, probably in the 16thc. or 17thc., to allow the extension of parkland for the hall. The Blythe itself was dammed in 1953 to form Blithfield Reservoir, over two miles long and half a mile wide, and now a centre for wildlife and leisure activities as well as a source of water for S Staffordshire.
3. St Mary and All Saints, Bradley, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
Bradley lies some 4 miles SW of Stafford in a gently undulating landscape of small dispersed farms, traditionally dairy. The church is of red sandstone and has a nave with a N aisle, chancel with a N chapel and a W tower. The chancel side windows indicate a late-13thc. date, although the E window with its flowing tracery is 14thc. The two-bay N chapel is of the late-13thc. In the nave, the three-bay arcade with its quatrefoil piers and sunk quadrant mouldings in the arch belongs to the early 14thc. There is no clerestory, but the S nave wall has been fitted with three tall 15thc. windows that light the interior admirably. To the same period belong the battlemented parapets of the nave and tower. The N nave aisle is linked to the N chapel by a simple, very plain arch, perhaps early-13thc., and an old roofline visible in the masonry above this demonstrates that the aisle has been widened and heightened, probablyc.1500 (see VIII Comments/Opinions), the date of the aisle windows. The nave has N and S doorways without porches; the N 19thc. and the S 16thc. The tower and its arch are 14thc. and later work. It had a W doorway that was blockedc.1907 using 12thc. and later carved stones on the interior. Other 12thc. carved stones are set in the S nave wall outside, and the church is also important for its chip-carved font. Antiquarian views in the William Salt Library are a view from the N by J. Curtes of 1798 (SV II 122c), one from the SE by Buckler of 1842 (SV II 29), and one of the tower from the W, also by Buckler, 1842 ((SV II 117). This last shows the W doorway before it was blocked. There is also an 1842 Buckler drawing of the font (SV II 121).
4. St Editha, Church Eaton, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
Church Eaton is an attractive village in the W of the county, 6 miles SW of Stafford and 4 miles from the Shropshire border. The village lies between the Church Eaton Brook, to the E, and the Shropshire Union Canal, to the W, in an undulating landscape mostly devoted to dairy farming. The church stands at the E end of the High Street, and is of local sandstone. It consists of nave, chancel and W tower with spire. N aisle has been added to the nave, and extended eastwards alongside the chancel to form a chapel. Beyond this, at the E end of the N chancel wall, is an unusual 17thc. vestry. On the S of the chancel is a 19thc. organ room. The two-storey tower is 12thc., with clasping buttresses to the lower storey, which also has two small round-headed lancets in the W wall. The upper storey has plain round-headed lancets on its N, S and W walls, and on the E wall a larger round-headed window into the nave. All the external lancets are chamfered, suggesting a late-12thc. date, and this is confirmed by the pointed tower arch and its capitals, and by the bell-openings, with twin pointed openings under a barely-pointed enclosing arch. The broach-spire, recessed behind a plain parapet with gargoyles at the angles, is dated by Pevsner to the 15thc. It has lucarnes at two levels. The nave has a S doorway ofc.1300, and tall 15thc. windows. On the N, the four-bay arcade is mid-13thc., with pointed, chamfered arches and nailhead decoration on the moulded capitals. The square-headed aisle windows are 14thc, however. The N chapel is 15thc., with tall, three-light square-headed windows, and a two-bay arcade with arches taller than the nave arcade and crudely cut octagonal capitals. In the present liturgical arrangement the chancel has been shortened, so that its screen and step are alongside the central pier of the chapel arcade. The seven-light E chancel window is a beautifully skeletal work of the 15thc. The 19thc. additions include the S porch and the organ room and vestry on the S side of the chancel. Romanesque work recorded here comprises the tower bell-openings and tower arch, a cushion capital set in the S porch, and the broken and repaired remains of an elaborate early-12thc. font, closely related to the font at Bradley.
5. St Peter, Gayton, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
Gayton is a scattered village in central Staffordshire, some 5 miles NE of the centre of Stafford. It stands on a rise above the Trent, a mile away to the SW, and Gayton Brook, a tributary of the Trent, runs to the N of the village centre. The church is on the W side of the village with a moated site alongside it.
6. St Lawrence, Gnosall, Staffordshire, England

Formerly Collegiate church, now parish church
St Lawrence's is a cruciform church begunc.1100 with substantial later additions. Three-bay aisles were added to the nave in the 13thc.; the arcades have pointed, double chamfered arches carried on octagonal piers with moulded capitals. The W doorway and the triple lancet above it are also 13thc., as are the small lancets in the W walls of the aisles, so it is possible that the length of the church was changed in the 13thc. too. The S doorway is 13thc. too, now under a 19thc. porch (by Lynam, 1893). The 12thc. chancel has been drastically remodelled, but the original shallow buttresses remain on the N wall. The five-light E window is a spectacular example of mid-14thc. flowing tracery. A Lady Chapel was added on the S side of the chancel c.1500. It has tall three-light windows and a parapet, and a view of the E end serves to point up both the ineptness of the addition and the contrast between the sinuous Decorated tracery of the chancel and the austere late-Perpendicular work of the chapel. Also Perpendicular is the eastern chapel added to the N transept. The most recent addition is the new N vestry, designed by Ian Henderson of Horsley, Huber and Associates of Stafford and dedicated by the Bishop of Stafford in 1994. It is linked to the N nave aisle doorway by a passage containing a lavatory and an outer door, and thus combines the functions of porch, vestry and washroom.
7. St Michael and All Angels, Hamstall Ridware, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
Church and Hall originally formed a group, with the Hall to the W, and this is shown in two views by Stebbing Shaw (1798-1801) in the William Salt Library (SV VIII 62a, 62b). Nothing is known of the Hall before the early 16thc., and such remains as survive today are of that period or later. St Michael's has a W tower with an octagonal spire behind a plain parapet, and a long nave and chancel in one, with no chancel arch, a single roof and a continuous clerestory. J. C. Buckler a produced a SE view of the church (1839), now in the William Salt Library (SV VIII 61a), looking much as it does today. The separation between nave and chancel was once by means of a rood-loft reached by a spiral stair on the S side, which remains in part. The present position of the chancel is marked by a step, and there are three nave arcade bays to the W of this and one similar chancel arcade bay, plus a smaller bay to the E. On the N side of the chancel, both arches give onto a chapel, now containing the organ and a vestry. On the S the smaller E arch acts as the canopy of the Cotton tomb ofc.1500, and the chapel is still used for its proper purpose. There is another vestry to the E of the S chapel, so that overall the S chancel aisle extends to the E end of the church, while the N aisle stops one bay short. The nave is 12thc., and its upper W window survives in part, along with traces of another on the N side of the chancel, and masonry to either side of the tower at the W end. The tower and chancel are 14thc, and the arcades and clerestory Perpendicular. The church is of grey ashlar inside and out; the interior apparently recently cleaned and looking very bare. The church has three fonts, or at least three bowls, two 12thc., one inside and one out, and the third the 19thc. piece that is actually used. Curiously, Pevsner mentioned only the less interesting of the Romanesque fonts.
8. St James, Longdon, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
The nave has no aisles but broad transepts at its E end. The N transept is of 1870 by A. Hartshorne; 13thc. in its details, but with a single opening to the nave consisting of shafted piers carrying a heavy joist. The S transept is of two pointed bays, and was built by John Stoneywall, later Abbot of Pershore, around 1500. The nave roof is modern and fitted with skylights. The nave E wall has the remains of wallpainting at the top. There are N and S nave doorways; the S under a porch and the N now giving access to a vestry. The chancel arch is 12thc. work, and the chancel is 13th-14thc., with simple lancets at the W end and Y-traceried window further E. The E window has reticulated tracery of the early 14thc. The W tower is 14thc., with diagonal buttresses at the W end and reticulated bell-openings. The parapet, with battlements and crocketed pinnacles at the angles, may be a later addition. Construction is of red sandstone ashlar throughout. The S transept has battlements. There are drawings of the church in the William Salt Library, dating from 1769 to 1841 (SV VII 35a, 35b, 36, 37a) and one of the S doorway of 1843 (SV VII 38). All show the church much as it is today. In the same collection are drawings of the font, of 1842 (A. E. Everitt - SV VII 42) and 1843 (J. C. Buckler - SV VII 41). Romanesque features are the chancel arch, the bowl of the font, and the two nave doorways. The N doorway was not accessible when the church was recorded.
9. St John the Baptist, Mayfield, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
St John's has an aisled nave with three-bay arcades and a S doorway under a porch. The chancel is square ended and the W tower has diagonal buttresses. The S arcade and S doorway date from the 12thc., both with round arches and the arcade with cylindrical piers. The N arcade also has round arches, but the piers have a quatrefoil plan and the capitals have crockets. The style is early 13thc., therefore, but Pevsner suggests that it belongs to the rebuilding of the aisle in 1854 by F. W. Fiddian and Ewen Christian. This is incorrect; Fiddian's plan suggests that the arcade was not replaced, and it also appears on J. Buckler's drawing of 1844 (William Salt Library SV VII 69). The S porch is dated 1866, and must replace the porch shown on Fiddian's plan. The chancel windows have Y-tracery or (at the E) reticulated tracery, pointing to a date in the first half of the 14thc. The external cresting of the chancel roof looks 18thc. According to an inscription on its W face, the tower was begun by T. Rolleston in 1515. It has Perpendicular bell-openings and W window and doorway, and a battlemented parapet with eight tall pinnacles. Construction is of reddish ashlar. A plain 12thc. window head is reused as facing stone above the S porch. Two 12thc. lancets are shown above the porch in a Buckler drawing of 1839 (William Salt Library SV VII 66), but they are no longer there, and this window head probably belonged to one of them. Romanesque features recorded here are the S arcade and the S doorway.
10. St Chad, Seighford, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
Seighford is a small village only 2½ miles NW of the centre of Stafford. St Chad's is a curious mixture of brick and stone building. he W tower is of red brick and 17thc., with brick clasping buttresses and stone pinnacles added in 1748. This, or something like it, is also the date of the brick nave, but the chancel and the N nave aisle and its eastward extension to form a N chapel are of stone. The tower was built in the western bay of the nave, so that the W bay of the four-bay N arcade is alongside it. This end of the aisle has now been converted for use as a kitchen and lavatory. The arcade itself is 12thc. and the nave has no clerestory. The chancel arch is also 12thc., but the chancel contains a 13thc. piscina and nothing earlier. The arch to the N chapel is segmental and very broad, presumably rebuilt. The responds supporting it are Perpendicular (Pevsner reports the W respond as EE). The chapel is now occupied by the organ, with a vestry to the E. There are two antiquarian view of the church in the William Salt Library. A sepia wash drawing of 1838 by T. P. Wood shows its elevated position well in a distant view from the N (SV VIII 155a), and another sepia wash drawing by Buckler shows the church from the SE (SV VIII 156). Both show the building much as it is today. The only Romanesque features are the N nave arcade and the chancel arch.
11. St Chad, Stafford, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
St Chad's is on Greengate Street, one of Stafford's main shopping streets running S from the market square. Its W front is entirely the work of George Gilbert Scott (1873-74), but this conceals a church that is substantially 12thc. and considerably larger than expected. It is cruciform with a crossing tower and aisles to the nave. The aisles have four-bay arcades carried on heavy cylindrical piers with scallop capitals and chevron decoration on the two eastern arches of each arcade. Above the E respond capitals and pier 1 capitals on the nave faces of both arcade walls are attached half-shafts rising to clerestory sill level, with plain cuboidal blocks where capitals and bases would be expected. The W responds of the arcades are of a later date than the rest, suggesting that the nave might originally have extended further W, but the vicissitudes undergone by the façade (see below) make this by no means certain. Above the arcades are round-headed clerestory windows; originally 12thc. but entirely remade. The aisles are entirely Scott's work. The only nave doorway is at the W. The crossing tower was rebuilt in the 14thc. and restored by Robert Griffiths of Stafford in 1884, and all four crossing arch heads are 14thc., although the beautifully carved 12thc. W arch was retained, the new W crossing arch being constructed immediately to the E of it. In the detailed descriptions below, the 12thc. arch is called the chancel arch. The N arch was rebuilt in the 19thc, incorporating 12thc. carved capitals and imposts discovered in the restoration. The E arch has 12thc. embrasures, capitals and imposts supporting the 14thc. archivolts above. The S arch appears to be entirely 14thc. work, but it is largely concealed by the organ. The N transept is by Griffiths (1886) and now houses the Jevons Memorial Chapel, furnished in 1937. The S transept was not rebuilt until 1953-55 and houses the organ with a vestry behind it. The chancel is now of three bays, with 12thc. windows in the two western bays, original on the N side, and 12thc. interior wall arcading in these bays on the N and S sides. The exterior chancel stringcourse also stops at the end of bay two, indicating that the 12thc. chancel was a bay shorter than the present one. It may have ended in an apse.
12. St James and St Bartholomew, Waterfall, Staffordshire, England

Formerly chapel, now parish church
Waterfall is a moorland village, on a hill above the River Hamps. There is no waterfall here; the village taking its name from the behaviour of the River Hamps, which abruptly disappears underground among the limestone rocks nearby, re-emerging near Ilam. The church has a blocky nave and W tower, both dating from 1792 and typical of their date with round-headed windows and heavy ashlar facings. The chancel was rebuilt in the 1890s, using old masonry, and the chancel arch is 12thc., if restored. To the N of the chancel is a chapel, also of the 1890s, now used as a vestry. The only other 12thc. feature is the arch now set above the 18thc. S nave doorway under a porch dated 1894. It looks, says Pevsner, 'curious'.
13. St Peter, Yoxall, Staffordshire, England

Parish church
Yoxall was built along the river Swarbourn, which runs from N to S here. It was on the edge of the Needwood Forest, which was not enclosed until the 19thc. Its main street is now the A515 from Lichfield to Ashbourne and the church stands back from this in a spacious churchyard. St Peter's is mostly by Woodyer of 1865-68 and has an aisled nave with a clerestorey, a chancel with N and S chapels and a W tower. The nave is spacious with five-bay arcades in a Decorated style and a clerestorey with square-headed quadruple lights. The S doorway is genuinely medieval and of c.1200 and has no porch; the N is 19thc. The chancel chapels are both of two bays, and the N now contains the organ. The W tower has a battlemented parapet and tall crocketed finials. Drawings predating Woodyer's restoration show a similarly aisled nave, apparently without a clerestorey and with no N porch; a very similar W tower and a much lower chancel without chapels. The only feature included here is the S doorway.