• 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

The church is of rubble masonry with grey tiled roofs to the chancel and nave. Nave with N aisle, chancel, S chapel and W tower with spire. Restoration in 1876. 12thc. sculpture survives on the chancel arch and around the existing S doorway.

III Exterior Features

1. Doorways

(i) S doorway

Fragments of a fine 12thc. doorway are set to the L and above the doorway inserted in 1876. The fragments are placed at their original height, with the bases now at 0.76m above the present ground level, as much earth has been removed from the base of the walls. Masonry of the L engaged nook-shaft survives, sunk into the wall so that only the S face is visible, the base is too damaged to read. Above plain necking, the L cushion capital survives, standing above the half-shaft, also sunk into the wall, showing only its S face. This resembles the capitals of the chancel arch, but is more elaborate. The shield has an inverted five-leaved plant within a stepped inverted triangular form outlined by a small roll between two grooves. The bell of the capital has a tuck on the angle and a triangular cone below the shield, its apex falling just above the necking.

Nine voussoirs remain of the arch which had three rows of chevrons lateral to the face, roll-roll-hollow. The cogwheel edge shows traces of leaf or flower decoration suggesting that the soffit was further carved. Four stones survive of a label with a broad carved face. Three of the stones are carved with a heavy triple plait, with beading. These are stones 1, 2 and 4 from the L. Stone 3, set at the apex of the arch, is shorter and on it the plait continues from either end, with a triple rosette in the centre. This was presumably the keystone of the label.

Dimensions

IV Interior Features

1. Arches

a. Chancel arch/Apse arches

(i) Chancel arch

Semi-circular, of one order, 12thc., but much restored, some old stones, especially in the label, have been reused. Engaged quarter-shafts, E face plain, W face has identical supporting capitals similar to that on the S doorway, except that the inverted step decoration on the shields has no enrichment of leaves. The heavy, hollow-chamfered square imposts have two incised lines of double zig-zag on the face. The arch has a square soffit with an angle roll following the line of the jamb shafts. The label has a double row of alternating billets on the chamfer. No stops.

VII History

Eldersfield is probably to be identified with the five hides in the manor of Longdon, formerly held by Reinbald the Chancellor, held in 1086 by King William. The manor passed to Robert Earl of Gloucester (1120-47),who gave it to William de Berkely as one knight's fee. William de Berkely was nephew of Roger de Berkeley who held Coberley in Gloucestershire in 1086. The church of Eldersfield was originally a chapelry subject to the mother church of Longdon and in the patronage of the Folliot family.

VIII Comments/Opinions

The stepped forms on the scallop capitals may be related to what seem to be experiments in this direction at nearby Pendock (qv). A datec.1180 seems reasonable. The continuation of the quarter-shafts into the chancel arch, if faithful to the original, is subtle and sophisticated. The decoration of the S doorway capital has been compared to carving at Beckford (Stratford in Pevsner, 1968, 141).

IX Bibliography