The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
Parish church, formerly Minster
Parish church, formerly Minster
W tower, four-bay aisled nave, chancel aisled on the S side only. The S nave arcade dates from the late 12thc. The tower is largely 16thc., having been rebuilt after a storm in 1593/94, and contains 12thc. moulded stones taken from the abbey. The history of the N aisle is a complex one. There was a N transept in the 14thc., in which the Jesus Chantry was housed, but the N nave aisle which it now terminates was not added until 1872. In 1918 a small chapel, the St Edward's or War Memorial Chapel, was built out from the N wall of the aisle. The chancel was extended and given its S aisle in 1863. This S chancel aisle was originally a Lady Chapel, but is now a candle shop. The only 12thc. sculpture is on the capitals of the S nave arcade.
Parish church, formerly Minster
The building is cruciform, with a chancel, nave, transepts and a crossing tower; this last added in the 14thc. The church is essentially late Romanesque but much altered and restored in later times. The S aisle is an addition of c.1190 and the N aisle is early 13thc. The chancel was entirely rebuilt in the 14thc. The three Romanesque doorways predate these alterations and were re-set into the aisles and chancel. Duncumb (1812, 89) states that the fabric was 'completely repaired' in 1806. Williams (1987, pl. 2) illustrates an important 18thc. print showing the church from the SW but does not reveal its source. The font bowl predates the present church.
Parish church, formerly Minster
Much of the medieval interior was destroyed during the restoration of 1863, though the nave arcades, with their curious unfinished carvings, have survived. It would appear that the nave was enlarged during the second half of the 12thc, by the insertion of N and S aisles, though not as part of the same continuous programme of work. The W tower is also part of the original Norman building, though some sections of the lower stages may have been part of the earlier Anglo-Saxon structure. From internal details, parts of the lower stages of the tower would appear to have been constructed roughly contemporaneously with the three bay N aisle, i.e. early in the second half of the 12thc. The construction of the S aisle, of just two wider bays, would have followed, probably after c. 1170.