St James, Dry Doddington, Lincolnshire

I Location

Site Location: Dry Doddington
National Grid Reference: SK 849 466
County: traditional: Lincolnshire
now: Lincolnshire
Diocese: medieval: Lincoln
now: Lincoln
Dedication: medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St James
Type of building/monument: Parish church

II General Description

: Exterior, general view of church

Church consists of chancel, nave with N and S side aisles, and W tower. The nave arcades are Gothic while the nave itself was rebuilt in 1876-77. The S doorway of the nave is Romanesque.

III Exterior Features

1. Doorways

(i) Nave, S doorway

: Exterior, nave, S doorway

: Exterior, detail, L label stop

: Exterior, detail, R label stop

Single order set on chamfered plinth. Chamfered jambs of alternating long and short stone blocks with chevron on face. Imposts are polygonal with hollow chamfer that is squared off at E and W terminals. The W impost is made of two separate pieces of stone. The arch is chamfered with chevron on face. Label has a hollow chamfer and roll mould with labels stops depicting faces sticking out broad tongues.

Dimensions

max. h.	2.00 m
max. w.	0.97 m

VII History

Though Dry Doddington is cited several times in Domesday Book there is no mention of a church.

VIII Comments/Opinions

There are a number of irregular aspects of the door design that suggest it is reset and not represented in its original form. The size of the blocks of stone in the jambs lack any consistency and are set in opposite fashion across from each other so that a short stone is opposed to a long stone across from it. Also the size of the chevron on the jambs is distinctly larger than that in the arch. The use of polygonal imposts in an otherwise Romanesque design suggests a later insert for this component of the door. The arch itself is made of nine voussoirs. Based on the difference in stone color, surface wear, and change in profile of chevron motif (from hollow to flat chevron) the inner seven voussoirs are later insertions. The arch also has a slight, off-centre point to it, which suggests that all the original voussoirs are not present and the door was originally round-headed. The top, two central pieces of the label are also later insertions based on their good surface condition. These characteristics suggest that the door reconstruction came from an assortment of Romanesque elements rather than being a simple rebuilding of an existing door.

IX Bibliography

N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire. London, 1990, 260.