The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
St Peter and St Paul (medieval)
Parish church
The village of Kilmersdon lies at the head of a valley leading N through the Mendip Hills to Radstock. It straddles the secondary road between Norton St Philip and Chilcompton, which road climbs to the W of the village up to the ridge along which runs N-S the Fosse Way and, to the NE, around Ammerdown Park up to the ridge along which runs the Frome-Radstock main A362 road.
The church is of Norman origin, although much of the existing fabric dates between the 15th and the 16thc; the church was restored in the 19thc. It consists of a W tower, a nave, a chancel, a N aisle with a chapel, a S organ loft and a vestry. The Romanesque elements comprise the window in the nave S wall (reopened in 1898), the plain narrow S doorway (now into the vestry) visible from the nave, remains of a chancel N window (again visible only from inside), many stretches of a fish-scale frieze outside, part of a corbel table on the nave walls and built-in fragments of carving inside (chancel N wall) as well as outside.
Parish church
North Curry is a village 5 miles E of Taunton. The village straddles and straggles along a low Mercia Mudstone ridge extending over the low moors NE of Taunton terminated by the River Parrett at Stathe. It lies just S of the River Tone at about 25m OD, and 8km E of Taunton. North Curry, like Stoke St Gregory, is one of the two largest villages, both of which are blessed with parish churches. Although a road runs along the ridge, it is not now more than locally important.
The church of St Peter and Paul, sometimes known as 'Cathedral of the Moors' stands to the N of the village centre on the crest of the scarp, and commands a fine prospect across the low moors. The striking edifice can be very clearly seen from afar to the north, and its builders through the ages may well have been conscious of it making a strong statement on the landscape. Its building development suggests that there was no shortage of resources, particularly around 1300 and 1500 by which time the church had been largely rebuilt. The N doorway is Romanesque.
Parish church
The parish of Otterhampton lies on the Parrett estuary 5 miles NW of Bridgwater, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset. The church of All Saints (formerly Sts. Peter and Paul), is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is built of rubble and comprises a W tower, nave, chancel with N vestry, and a S porch. The church is mostly of the 14th-15thc with 19thc modifications. The nave probably has 12thc origins although no original features survive except perhaps the rear arch of the S doorway (plain chamfered - not included here). The font is Romanesque.
Parish church
Broadwell is a village about nine miles W of Witney. The church lies to the N of the village and was built around 1190 of coursed rubble limestone (Sherwood and Pevsner (1974), 488-9). The church originally consisted of a chancel, a presbytery bay, a nave and a W tower. In the 13thc the whole building was remodelled: the chancel and the presbytery were united to form an enlarged chancel, new windows and buttresses were added to the chancel and tower, and the N and S chapels were built. The church was extensively restored in 1873 by Edward George Bruton. The surviving Romanesque features are the nave N and S doorways, the E tower arch and the Transitional, or possibly later, font located at the W end of the nave.
Parish church
Hodnet is a village about five miles SW of Market Drayton. The church lies to the W of the village and consists of a 14thc nave added to the original 12thc S aisle: the S aisle originally functioned as the nave, with N aisle being added in 14thc. Remains of round-headed 12thc windows are found in the S wall of the current S aisle. An octagonal W tower was added to the end of the nave in the 14thc. The building was restored in 1846-7. The only Romanesque surviving sculpture is the octagonal font located at W end of the S aisle.
Parish church
Of the previous building on the site, the nave alone had survived by 1848, at which time it was considered very ancient (Lewis, 1848). The present church was built in 1898 at the expense of King Edward VII. Substantially a late-19thc structure incorporating 13thc elements, it has a single S nave aisle and contains no Romanesque carving apart from the font, one of four in north-west Norfolk long seen as forming a stylistically related group. Arguably among the finest in the country as a whole, and certainly in the county, the Shernborne font is, in Pevsner's memorable phrase, 'a barbaric but mighty Norman piece.'
Parish church
Eye is a small village in the N of the county; 2½ miles N of Leominster and within 5 miles of the Shropshire border to the N and the Worcestershire border to the E. The village consists of the church, the 17thc Eye Manor alongside, and a few other dwellings. The core of the church is a building of the late 12thc and early 13thc in local sandstone. It has a 13thc chancel with a 2-bay N chapel of the same date and a 19thc S vestry. The nave is 12thc with S aisle added at the end of that century and a N aisle at the beginning of the 13thc. The N porch dates from the 14thc, but the S doorway, facing away from the village, has no porch and is now blocked. The W tower was rebuilt in 1874, when the church was restored and the S vestry addded. Features described here are the S nave arcade, the N and S nave doorways, and the N chancel doorway.
Parish church
A cruciform building of Wealden sandstone with aisleless nave, transepts, square central tower with belfry, and chancel. This church is complex to date, as although it is early Romanesque in origin with 13c.work and 15c./ 16c. additions, extensive repairs and drastic rebuilding in 1838-39 altered many of its parts, and covered up original features. The building styles fall into six periods, including modern times. (1). There are remains of 12c. masonry within the nave walls, but they are inaccessible behind a heavy plaster layer of c.1838 (V.C.H.III, 100). The exterior S nave doorway with twin columns and cushion capitals, is a fine example of early Romanesque style. (2).The tower arches were apparently altered during the rebuilding (Short Church Guide), but the rough and heavy stonework with double chamfered edges is basically 13c., also some fabric in the S.transept with its 3 single lancet windows (3). The nave has late-15c. alterations and additions: timber porch, the W. doorway made of chalk, W. 3-light window and a 2-light Perp. window in the S. wall. Perp. window in S. transept. (4). Late 16c. work includes the nave roof with king-posts and moulded tie-beams. (5). The tower fell in 1838, and together with most of the chancel and the N. transept, was rebuilt by Robert Ebbels in Romanesque style. (6). Spire, chancel roof and part of the N. transept roof are modern. There was a restoration programme carried out in 1954. The Romanesque features described here are the S doorway and the font.
Parish church
Finchingfield is a village in the Braintree district of NW Essex, 10 miles SE of Saffron Walden and 7 miles NW of Braintree. The village is clustered around a crossing of the B1053, Saffron Walden to Braintree road with the church in the centre. The walls are of flint rubble with dressings of limestone and clunch; the roofs are covered with lead, except those of the N and S chapels, which are tiled. The church consists of a chancel with two-bay N and S chapels, a nave with a clerestory and 5-bay aisles, a 12thc tower and a S porch. The earliest part is the W tower, of c.1170. The chancel was rebuilt in the mid-13thc , and the N chapel arcade and S nave arcade date from this period too. The N nave arcade, with clustered piers, is slightly later. The S chapel arcade is 15thc, as is the W bay of the N arcade. In the 15thc the bell-chamber of the tower was altered or rebuilt; a spire was built possibly at the same time, but it fell in the 17thc and a cupola with an open bell stage was added in the 18thc. The church was restored in the 1865-66 by Henry Stock, and the S porch rebuilt. The only Romanesque features are in the tower, and include the W doorway, the tower arch, with rich but badly eroded and enigmatic decoration on the jambs, and deep 3-bay arcading at the two interior E angles.
Parish church
Steeple Aston is situated in north Oxfordshire, 10 miles E of Chipping Norton. The church is built of both limestone and the local ironstone, situated on high ground at the NE end of the village. A church was known to be in existence before 1180, probably consisting of nave and chancel. The present church comprises a chancel with a N chapel, a nave with N and S aisles, a S porch and a W tower. It is now basically C13th, with additions in the C14th and C15th. It acquired the tower by 1220, when 'Steeple' was added to its name. The only remaining Romanesque feature is the font, decorated with a diamond and chevron pattern.