Description

MESHAW MESHAW
SS 71 NE
4/40 Church of St. John the Baptist
20.2.67
- II
Parish church. Medieval foundation, tower rebuilt 1691 in memory of James
Courtenay, nave-cum-chancel in one, rebuilt 1838, vestry added mid C19, new
sanctuary and a porch added in 1879. Coursed local stone rubble, snecked rubble to
porch and sanctuary, freestone dressings, slate roofs to coped verges, lead ridges,
cruciform finials.
Plan: nave, chancel, south porch, north vestry, plain and simple low tower, austere
Commissioners Early English style with High Victorian Gothic Early English porch and
chancel.
Exterior: 2 stage west tower with small diagonal buttresses to the bottom stage,
embattled capping which appears rebuilt, weathercock on a tall wood pole, small
simple rectangular bell-chamber openings with louvres, C14 style west window
inserted probably in 1879; above an incised stone plaque commemorating the
rebuilding. Buttressed 4-bay continuous nave-and-chancel, lancets with simple Y-
tracery, except 2 at the east end with the tracery removed. Sanctuary of lower
height with a triple-lancet, east window. Porch in conforming style to south with
pointed-arch inner and outer door openings. Small north vestry.
Interior: plain plastered interior on slate floors. Nave with depressed 4-centred
arch shaped plaster ceiling; braced truss on carved corbels marking the division
with the chancel, panelled ceiling to sanctuary with thin ribs. Octagonal style
Perpendicular type font which may be recut from an original. Victorian High Gothic
pulpit of 1879; High Gothic sanctuary with contemporary altar rails, encaustic tile
pavement, altar table, reredos with decalogue plaques and 3-light stained glass east
window. Pews, choir stalls and organ replaced in 1904. Large wood lecturn carved
as an eagle, probably Victorian but may be earlier. Good monument to James
Courtenay of 1658, coloured and gilded, flanking Corinithian columns support a
pediment capped by achievements. Three early C20 wall monuments. Small painted
Royal Arms of 1838. 3 stained glass windows of 1854, 1861, and 1879. Encaustic
tile pavement under tower.

Listing NGR: SS7586019685

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26401112

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)