The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
Berkshire (pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales))
Chapel
Sotwell is a village in the Thames valley between Didcot to the W and Wallingford to the E. The present church has an aisleless nave and chancel with timber bell-turret capped by a short broach spire, all of 1883-84 by S.R.Stevenson. It incorporates several features from the church demolished in 1883: two reset window heads on the exterior of the chancel, that in the S wall decorated with chip-carving; two snmall heads reset in the interior N and S walls of the nave, and a respond or nook-shaft capital reset in the interior N nave wall.
Chapel
Marlston is a hamlet in West Berkshire, 10 miles W of Reading. There is no distinct village centre, and the area is largely occupied by the twin schools of Brockhurst and Marlston House. The chapel stands in the school grounds, and was built substantially by Butterfield in 1855, of flint with red tile roof. It has a single nave with a bell turret at W end, and a square-ended chancel of two bays. There is a vestry in the position of a N transept, and facing doorways at the W end of the nave, the S under a porch. The N doorway is of c.1200, and there is a pillar piscina of the same period in the chancel.
Hospital, former
The former Hospitium of St John stands to the north of St Laurence's Church, at the edge of the churchyard. The north aisle of the church formerly served as the hospital's chapel. The building is of flint and limestone rubble with ashlar facings, and several carved stones, presumably from the abbey, are incorporated into the rubble walls.
Parish church
A spired church in a late 13thc. style by G. E. Street, 1862-63. It contains an arcaded font which is probably medieval rather than 19thc.
Chapel, former
Spital is on the southern edge of the town, and the northern edge of Windsor Great Park. The chapel stands on St Leonard’s Road and was built in yellow brick in 1874. It consists of a nave with a W gallery, a Lady Chapel, added as a S aisle, and a S porch at the W end of the S aisle. In its present use as a Music Centre, the weekly service is held in the Lady Chapel, while the main altar has been removed and replaced by a grand piano. The only Romanesque sculpture here is the 12thc font.
Parish church
Sparsholt is a village in the Vale of the White Horse, 3 miles W of Wantage. The church is a long, untidy building with a 13thc. W tower with a broach spire (renewed in 1796); a 14thc. nave and chancel and a S transept (N transept removed). The reset N and S nave doorways are late 12thc or early 13thc, and there is a plain 12thc. font.
Parish church
Shrivenham is a large village in the Vale of the White Horse, about 5 miles SW of Faringdon, and close to the county boundary with Wiltshire. Of the medieval church the 14thc central tower remains, and it is surrounded by a broad and long gabled church built from 1638 by Lord Craven. The W front of the nave appears to preserve sone 1thc masonry, and the rooflines of the medieval church remain on the tower walls. The only Romanesque sculpture is on the 12thc. font.
Parish church
The villages of East and West Lockinge are just outside Wantage to the E. The village in its present form is a creation of Lord and Lady Wantage c.1860. Their home was Lockinge House - originally of 1730 but greatly enlarged by Lord Wantage. This was demolished in 1947, and the church of All Saints' in East Lockinge stands next to its site. All Saints originally had a single nave and chancel to which a W tower was added in 1564. In 1853 a new nave was added to the S, the old church then becoming the N aisle. In 1886 another aisle with an arcade of oak was added to the S. There is a 12thc. N doorway and a plain font.
Parish church
Large church of 14thc. and later, extensively restored 1859-60. In the churchyard N of the church a flint building, originally the Chantry Chapel of St Mary, later a school called St Michael's Hall. In the S wall of this is a reset 11thc. or 12thc. relief.
Parish church
Sonning is an attractive village on the Thames, NE of Reading. St Andrew's is at the western edge of the village, close to the river. As it stands the church consists of a rectangular nave and chancel with N and S aisles throughout, the chancel aisles, slightly wider than those of the nave, forming chapels and a vestry. There are nave doorways covered by porches to N and S, and a W tower. The fabric is all of flint with ashlar dressings. The VCH identifies a complex building history beginning in the 13thc., but the overall visual effect is of Woodyer's extensive restoration of 1852. The interest of the church lies in the carved stones, presumably from Reading Abbey, set into the tower (which became unstable and was rebuilt at the Reformation), and in an elaborate pillar piscina, repositioned against a pier of the N arcade opposite the N doorway.