The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
St Michael (now)
Ruined parish church
Burrow Mump is a striking landscape feature, apparently a natural hill, some 6 miles SE of Bridgwater. It is strategically placed immediately adjacent to the present A361 (which must represent an ancient route) and just N of the confluence of the Tone and the Parrett, two of the principal rivers of Somerset. The near terrain is part of the low-lying Levels, frequently flooded in winter; there are fine views towards Mendip to the N, the Quantock Hills to the W and NW, the hills to the S which run up to the border with Dorset & the several lias ridges in the E sector. The nearest settlement is Burrowbridge, at the foot of the hill on the SW side.
The ruined chapel stands on top of Burrow Mump, and according to VCH was substantially a 15thc building with a chancel, central tower, S transept and nave. A crypt was excavated outside the N wall of the nave and a N chapel on the N side of the chancel. It was rebuilt c.1663 and described as ruinous in 1733. In 1793 it was rebuilt again, as a single-celled structure with a W tower and an entrance in the centre of the S wall. In 1836-37 it was functionally replaced by a new church in Burrowbridge itself by Richard Carver, also dedicated to St Michael, and the Burrow Mump chapel fell into ruins again. It was given to the National Trust in 1946. What remains on site is of squared and coursed lias with red brick and Hamstone dressings. It consists of a W tower, a 3-bay nave and a S porch. The only features described here are two heads on the S face of the tower, which may be Romanesque.
Parish church
The church comprises, chancel with S chapel and N vestry, nave with S aisle and S porch, and W tower. The nave and chancel are 12thc, while the S porch, S aisle and tower are 14thc. The chancel was rebuilt in the 15thc (Historic England listing: 1309558). Romanesque sculpture is found on the elaborately carved S doorway.
Parish church
Sollers Hope is a small village set in a hilly pasture and woodland area, 8 miles SE of Hereford and 6 miles SW of Ledbury. Settlement is scattered, and the church and Court Farm which form the focus are reached via a series of increasingly narrow single-track roads. St Michaels has a chancel with a N vestry, and a nave with a S porch and a timber framed W bell turret with an octagonal spire. Otherwise construction is of coursed local sandstone rubble, roughly squared. The body of the church is 14thc, and it was restored by Nicholson and Son in 1885. They added the vestry, and replaced the spire and the wagon roofs. The only Romanesque feature here is the font.
Parish church
Willington is a village in the South Derbyshire district, on the River Trent 6 miles SW of the centre of Derby, The church of St Michael is to the S of the village centre and consists of a nave with a S porch, chancel and N transept and a small west tower. The tower dates from 1824-27 and is of ashlar, while the body of the church is of coursed sandstone rubble. The only Romanesque feature is the S nave doorway.
Parish church
The vilage of Onibury lies four miles northwest of Ludlow on the River Onny. The church is single-aisled, with a 14thc. tower and nave. Chancel 12thc with 13thc additions, including lancet windows at the E end and blocked up doorways on the S and N side of chancel. The round-headed 12thc chancel arch has decorated imposts.
A piece of sculptural ornament is reset in the N wall of the chancel.
Parish church
Waddesdon is a good-sized village 5 miles NW of Aylesbury on the Roman road ofAkeman Street. The village is dominated by Waddesdon Manor, on a Lodge Hill to the W, but there was no medieval manor house here; the present house, built for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild from 1874-80, was the first on the site, and Rothschild built the present village to the E of the old village centre at the same time. Nevertheless evidence of continuous settlement here goes back to the bronze age. The church stands in the centre of the old village, opposite the gates to the manor, on the N side of the A41 which approximately follows the line ofAkeman Streetthrough the village. St Michael’s is a large church with an aisled nave with S porch, chancel and W tower. The nave is late-12thc, with an elaborate S doorway under a 14thc porch, rebuilt in 1902. The nave aisles are of six bays with clerestory windows above the piers. The N arcade is uniform, with the octagonal piers, finely moulded capitals and convex chamfered arch orders typical of the first years of the 14thc, and the use of forms of Y-tracery in most of the aisle windows confirms this dating. The S arcade, however, reveals a more complex history. The two E bays, including pier 1 but not pier 2, have the same design as the N arcade. The next three bays also have pointed arches, but with late-12thc details, the piers are cylindrical and the capitals are scalloped. Then pier 5 has a roughly moulded capital of a mid-13thc type, and the arch of bay 6 has deep double chamfers, also diagnostically mid-13thc. Finally the W respond returns to the scalloped design of piers 2-4. What this suggests is that a 12thc arcade of four bays (the present bays 2-5) was extended westwards by a bay in the 13thc; the W respond being reused n the new W wall, a new being pier inserted (pier 5) on the line of the old E wall and a new arch built (bay 6). Then in the early 14thc the aisle was extended by a bay to the E, the original pier 1 being retained as the new pier 2, and the arch of the old bay 1 being rebuilt in the new style. Piers 2, 3 and 4 have (or had) slim shafts rising from the impost blocks on the nave face, terminating in small scallop capitals, but carrying nothing. Small statues are a possibility, or transverse arches or, perhaps likeliest, roof trusses. The clerestory is 15thc, and its insertion, together with the raising of the nave walls and flattening of the roofline, was presumably responsible for the loss of the original trusses, supported by the shafts above the pier capitals.
The chancel dates from the early 14thc campaign, being rebuilt a bay further east than the 12thc chancel. The tower is of the late 14thc, with Perpendicular bell-openings, a polygonal SE stair with a battlemented turret rising higher than the main parapet, and angle buttresses at the W. It was taken down and rebuilt in 1891-92. A sign of an early restoration is given by the rainwater heads, dated 1736, and the church was completely restored during the incumbency of Richard Burges (1859-67). The nave and chancel are mortar rendered, and the tower is of irregular ashlar blocks. Romanesque sculpture is found on the S doorway and S nave arcade.
Parish church
Bowness-on-Solway is a small on the Solway Firth village about 13 miles NW of Carlisle. The church lies to the S of the village and its fabric appears to include re-used Roman stones. The structure consists of a rectangular building under a single roof, which covers both the chancel and the nave. There are also a S porch and a W bell turret. Repairs were undertaken in the 18thc and there was extensive restoration work carried out in 1891, at which time a number of changes were made to the church, including the addition of a N transept. A watercolour sketch inside the church shows the building before changes were made. Surviving Romanesque sculpture is found on the S and N doorways, on the E and N windows and, inside the church, there is also a Romanesque baptismal font with carved decoration.
Parish church
Bracewell is a small Dales village of stone cottages, west of Skipton and near Barnoldswick. The church has a nave with N aisle, S porch and W tower; a chancel and a vestry. There is a Norman S doorway and a chancel arch; the font is probably 13thc.
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Parish church
The tiny rural hamlet of Silvington is 4 miles NW of Cleobury Mortimer. Its small unaisled church has a 13thc tower and a Transitional tower arch with sculptural decoration. The nave is 12thc to early 13thc; the chancel and chancel arch are 13thc. The windows have 14thc tracery.
The 12thc Romanesque features are the S doorway; the blocked N doorway, the tower arch and the font below it, and one loose capital.
Parish church
Llanyblodwel is in the NW of the county, 5 miles SW of Oswestry and only a mile from the Welsh border. The village stands in the valley of the River Tanat, with the church at its centre. St Michael's is medieval in origin but was rebuilt to the design of the vicar, Rev. John Parker, between 1847 and 1856. It is now dominated by an octagonal tower that merges into a slightly swelling tower, like a rocket, apparently based on the spire of Freiburg Mister although the comparison is not close. Parker's spire, however, is of Welsh Minera limestone heavily dressed with Shelvock sandstone, which gives it a decidedly pinkish appearance. The steeple is almost detached from its twin gabled church, being linked to it only by a low vestibule. The nave, with a W gallery, and chancel occupy the S block, while the N block is an aisle with a longitudinal organ gallery occupying most of its length. Between the two is a 3-bay arcade dating from the 14thc. Parker also added dormers to the nave roof and his interior is covered with painted texts and stencilled patterns. The S nave doorway, under Parker's porch, is 12thc and the font may well be too, although this is a matter of dispute.