The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
St Swithun (medieval)
Parish church
The church consists of a chancel with shallow S transept,
nave, S porch and W tower. Though the church is of stone,
with render in places, the W tower is of brick. The body of the church appears to be
13thc. though the chancel was rebuilt in 1873/4 when the small
transept currently housing the organ appears to have been added. The tower is 17thc.
The only Romanesque features are the font and a reset lintel.
Parish church
The village of Hempsted lies on the edge of Gloucester between the Severn and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, somewhat isolated from the spread of the city: the cathedral is only about two miles away, and the site of the priory of Llanthony Secunda about a mile distant. The parish was abolished in 1966 when it became part of Gloucester. An earlier church was rebuilt in 1467-77 by a prior of Llanthony. Now it has a Perp tower and S porch, a Dec chancel, while the Victorians lengthened the nave and added a N vestry. A Romanesque font survived all this.