• Home
• News
• About
• Searching and Browsing
  • Find a Location
  • Find a Feature
  • Find a Word
  • Browse
  • Progress Status
• Resources
• Contact Us

I Location

II General Description

Of coursed rubble. Comprising a 12thc. nave and a later chancel, central tower, N vestry and S porch. Romanesque sculpture is found in the S and N doorways of the nave, in the W tower arch, once the chancel arch, and on a shaft embedded in the S nave wall.

III Exterior Features

1. Doorways

(i) S doorway, nave

Round-headed, four orders, with carved monolithic tympanum and integral lintel. The tympanum bears a central cross with wedge arm terminals flanked by two quadrupeds, rearing on their hind legs. They both have tails and hooves, and projections on their heads, the L beast five and the R four, representing ears and/or horns. The R beast has a double incised line across head and neck, suggesting reins; apart from the four projections, it looks like an ass. Perched on the R arm of the cross is a L facing bird, while above the L arm is a disc with central drilled hole and concentric groove. The carving is in low relief, on a recessed ground. The lintel bears a cable moulding above a linked chain ornament, the links circular and double stranded.

Dimensions

First order

Angle rolls on eroded bases. No capitals, but two corbels on either side, one pair projecting inwards to support the tympanum and the other pair displaced outside the angle shafts. The inner corbels are carved on the E and W faces respectively with two heads, one of each pair being bearded (male and female). The outer corbels are carved on the S faces, the L with a clean-shaven human head, the R with a serpent with fat beaded body and feline head, facing L. The outer corbels carry imposts and an angle roll, which encloses the tympanum.

Second order

Nook shafts on eroded, moulded bases; plain neckings, carved cushion capitals (see below), and hollow-chamfered impost blocks, carved on the face, the L with a cable moulding below a band of herringbone, the R with two grooves.

L capital: the cushion has tapered ribs at the angles and nested V-shaped ribs on the cones. Within the shield on the S face are two interlocking chip-carved rosettes within lozenges; the W face shield contains a grid of similar but smaller motifs.

R capital: a tapered rib centred on a hollow moulding in the angle tuck. Incised compass motifs within the shields, each face with a different design, the S with four petals superimposed on a circle, the E with a central circle inscribed with a cursive X and with a cusped border to the shield.

In the arch, two rows of frontal chevrons, outlined by reeding.

Third order

Nook shafts directly on later stone bench (a mutilated stoup across the second and third orders on the R), plain neckings, carved capitals (see below) and hollow-chamfered imposts with carving on the face, the L with a row of zigzag above a cable moulding continuous with that of the first order, the R with a cable moulding above the chamfer.

L capital: block capital, with nested V-shaped ribs in the centre of each face and further ribs at the angle; two ribs on the S face are enriched by beading; above, in the position of shields, the W face bears five discs, symmetrically arranged, each with a central drilled hole and surrounded by deep grooves, the S face bears double-stranded stems with scrolled terminals.

R capital: cushion capital, with angle tuck reinforced by a plain moulding and a V-shaped groove on each cone. Beaded borders to the lower edges of the shields, and step patterns inside.

The arch bears three rows of lateral chevrons (roll, hollow, roll), centrifugally carved, with a cogwheel edge (one very narrow voussoir towards the apex).

Fourth order

Squared, the S faces largely obscured by the porch masonry, the E and W faces decorated by a vertical row of lateral chevron. No capitals or imposts; instead, a block at the top, plain or cut back on S face, carved on the slightly flaring E and W faces: the L decorated on the W face with chip-carved saltires within squares and with pellets between the arms of the crosses, the R block carved on the E face with a beaded lily above a scallop border.

Twin cable moulding on the face of the arch, with beading at the apex.

(ii) N doorway, nave (reset, blocked)

Round-headed, one order, with carved monolithic tympanum and integral lintel. Much altered.

The tympanum represents the Harrowing of Hell: in the centre is a standing, forward-facing figure with outstretched arms, holding a cross in the R hand and, apparently, some form of leash in the L, which curves around a second, hunched figure facing L. The cross stands in the gaping mouth of a beast head, which has pointed ears. The carving is in low relief on a recessed ground, but the figures are very badly weathered or defaced. Below, on the lintel, is a symmetrical stem with lilies within shield-shaped loops.

Dimensions

First order

Nook shafts directly on plinths, eroded on R. At the top, instead of capitals, are two corbels, carved on the projecting E and W faces, plain and flush with the lintel on the N. The L corbel bears a beaded ring-knot on the face with a human, possibly female head below, broken at the bottom and with ribbed hair. On the face of the R corbel is a roll between two grooves above a row of nailhead, with a male head with cable-moulded moustache below (damaged). Two further corbels are set to the outside of those of the first order. The projecting N faces are each carved with a beast-head with open, downward-facing mouth; that on the L also has arms, the R is muzzled and may be a bear-head. The L impost has a groove on the face, the R is largely missing.

The springers of the arch are missing; the remaining voussoirs are carved with a fat cable moulding.

IV Interior Features

1. Arches

a. Chancel arch/Apse arches

(i) Chancel arch

See IV.1.b.

b. Tower/Transept arches

(i) Tower arch

W tower arch (originally the chancel arch)

Round-headed, slightly depressed; two orders on the E face, three on the W.

First order, shared

Engaged half-shaft responds on attic bases, the L with a worn head at the SW angle, the R with base and plinth cut back at W; plain neckings, carved cushion capitals (see below) and hollow-chamfered imposts, each decorated on the face with a row of zigzag above a beaded cable moulding.

L capital: incised nested Vs on the cones and shallow ribs at the angles. Shields decorated as follows: on the E face a human mask, on the S regular interlace, and on the W three downward scrolling tendrils.

R capital: as L capital, but the E face shield plain and those on the N and W faces containing a serpent and a human mask respectively. In the arch, two rows of lateral chevrons on both the E and W faces, centrifugally carved and with cogwheel edges; lozenges with double outlines on the soffit.

Second order, E face

Plain; imposts plain on L and continuous with first order on R, except that the hollow chamfer is less deep. Plain arch.

Second order, W face

Nook shafts, the L on an attic base, the R with only the top two courses remaining (the lower courses may have been cut away to accommodate a pulpit). The first and fourth courses of the L shaft bear beakhead, both with pointed ears, almond-shaped eyes outlined by grooves and long noses; the first beakhead has a pointed jaw, the second a squarish one, with flaccid open mouth and protruding tongue, and two scrolls emerging from the nostrils. The second course bears a centaur facing R, with an upright spear in front. It has hooves, fetlocks, either two long horns or two stiff pigtails terminating in drilled knobs on its head, a closed R eye, open mouth, five nested V-shaped ribs on the bodice and a row of circular depressions down the back; the R arm is bent at the elbow and the hand open in front of the mouth. Plain neckings, carved capitals (see below) and imposts continuous with first order.

L capital: cushion capital with V-shaped grooves on the cones, the W shield containing a human mask, the S outlined by two rows of beading.

R capital: block capital, but decorated to resemble a cushion, with nested V-shaped grooves on the 'cones' and at the angle and symmetrical scrolls within the shields.

The arch bears three rows of lateral chevrons on the face, centrifugally carved and with a cogwheel edge.

Third order, W face

On L, a double nook shaft on flared bases; plain double necking and shared plain cushion capital with angle tuck; on R, similar, but only the capital and top course of the shafts have been carved. Imposts continuous with first and second orders, continuing into a string course. The arch bears an angle roll with a hollow on the face.

5. Interior Decoration

b. String courses

(i) E nave wall

c. Miscellaneous

(i) Shaft

Embedded in the S wall of the nave is a tall nook shaft on a torus base with plain necking and carved triple trumpet scallop capital. The cones are decorated with upright leaves, plain and pointed in the tucks and shorter with tripartite terminals below the shields. The shields are decorated with curved grooves, with a trefoil leaf at the angle at the top.

VII History

There was a Minster church at Beckford by the late 8thc., when the bishops of Worcester held land here; their estate is first mentioned in the period 757-96. The manor was formed after the Conquest, when William FitzOsbern, Earl of Hereford (died 1071) joined 11 hides held by Rotlesc, a housecarl, with one hide at Ashton under Hill. His second son Roger forfeited the manor in 1075. The manor of Beckford was granted to the canons of Ste Barbe-en-Auge (founded 1128) who established a priory there, but they were twice evicted during the Anarchy by William de Beauchamp, who claimed Beckford 'in time of war ... by hereditary right'. Papal intervention forced William to make restitution of damages and he later released all claim to the manor. Henry II confirmed Ravel's grant of Beckford to Ste Barbe between 1185 and 1189. The priors appointed the prior of Beckford, who held the manor, with some interruptions, until the end of the 14thc. Beckford church had a number of dependent chapels from an early date, including Ashton-under-Hill. Beckford was transferred from Gloucestershire in 1931.

VIII Comments/Opinions

Stratford (in Pevsner 1968, 76-7) dates the sculpture toc.1160-75, and notes Italianate features: the tympana supported on corbel heads (cf. Ely Cathedral) and the centaur across the shaft of the tower arch (cf. W doorway, S Ambrogio, Milan). He also notes that the N doorway is not in its original state, and that the two beast-heads incorporated into it are of the Malmesbury type. (The corbels seem to be carved in two distinct styles.) The representation of the Harrowing of Hell on the N tympanum, in which ?Adam appears to be held on a leash, also appears at Quenington, Gloucestershire, and Shobdon, Herefordshire (ibid.). Pevsner compares the drapery folds on the capitals of the S doorway with Eldersfield; the VCH suggests that the S tympanum represents animal creation adoring the Trinity. Both the VCH and Pevsner suggest that the shaft inset into the nave wall once formed part of a large window. Doorways set in a projecting bay, as here, occur in a number of churches in the county (see Preface to Worcestershire).

IX Bibliography