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St Michael, Duntisbourne Rous, Gloucestershire

Location
(51°45′9″N, 2°1′23″W)
Duntisbourne Rous
SO 985 060
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Gloucestershire
now Gloucestershire
medieval Worcester
now Gloucester
  • John Wand
11 August 2016

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Description

Duntisbourne Rous (also spelt Rouse) is a small parish about four miles NW of Cirencester. The church is built on land that falls sharply to the E. In addition to a W tower, S porch, nave and chancel, advantage was taken of the steep slope to build a small chapel underneath the chancel. The chapel was formerly connected to the nave by a flight of steps but can now only be entered by an external S doorway. The windows of the chancel and chapel are Romanesque, as is the chancel arch. The N and S doorways to the nave are Anglo-Saxon and are described by Taylor and Taylor (1965), 221. There is a measured plan of the church, including the chapel, in the Buckler manuscripts held by the British Library. Clark (1937) gives a plan of the chapel, described by him as a crypt.

History

The Domesday Survey records that 'Duntesborne' was held by Wulfard before 1066. In 1086 it was held by Ralf Bloiet, being Durand of Gloucester tenant-in-chief. The manor valued £2. The land later belonged to the le Rous family, who gave their name to the parish.

Features

Exterior Features

Windows

Interior Features

Arches

Chancel arch/Apse arches
Bibliography

F. Arnold-Forster, Studies in Church Dedications, vol. 3, London 1899, 111.

J. Buckler, Unpublished album of drawings. Devizes Museum, vol. LXXXIV, 519.

A. Carver, The Story of Duntisbourne Rous, 1968.

W. A. Clark, 'Notes on Midland Crypts', Transactions of the Birmingham Archaeological Society, 61 (1937), 31-44.

Historic England listing 1088429

M. Salter, The Old Parish Churches of Gloucestershire, Malvern 2008, 64-5.

H. M. Taylor and J. J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, vol. 1, Cambridge 1965, 221.

D. Verey and A. Brooks, The Buildings of England, Gloucestershire I: the Cotswolds, London 1999, 331-332.

Domesday Book. A Complete Translation, ed. by A.Williams and G. H. Martin, London 2003, 466.