Description

LITTLE MARCLE CP A 4172 (east side)
SO 63 NE

5/29 Church of St Michael
and All Angels

- II

Parish church. Consecrated 1869. By J W Hugall. Coursed red sandstone
rubble with buff-coloured stone dressings and stone and tile roofs; verges
at east and west and at junction of nave and chancel with crosses at east
apeces of nave and chancel Three-bay nave and two-bay choir in modified
C13 style. West bell turret in style reminiscent of Auvergnac Romanesque.
Nave and choir stand partly on west verge and partly on attached column
rising from central west buttress; north porch and vestry with south organ
chamber. West front has battered base and pronounced moulded string course
beneath two lancets, one either side of attached column with double capital
in form of elaborated dosseret, each lancet contains quatrefoil tracery
supported on trefoils; octagonal bell turret overhangs trefoiled squinches
and has alternate sides open and supported by three clustered columns, its
spire has semi-circular indentations, quatrefoiled openings and is topped
by a moulded finial and wrought iron weather vane. North porch is gabled
with a cross, moulded string course rises to impost level of pointed entrance
arch. North windows of nave are 2-centred with labels each containing
two trefoil-headed lights beneath a quatrefoil, the one to the west resting
on two foils, the one to the east on one foil. Vestry is gabled to north
and has a cylindrical chimney and four open lancets, under a conical cap
with a finial; its west doorway has chamfered jambs with lamb's tongue stops
and a shouldered head. East window of three lights, the outer ones trefoiled
with quatrefoiled tracery above, is placed above a rising string course
beneath which is the consecration stone. Organ chamber projecting from west
end of south side of chancel has four segmentally-headed lights beneath
eaves level each containing recessed, cusped heads; the roof has three
heavy overhanging layers of stone, the bottom one linked to quoins. South
windows of nave are similar to those of the west front except that they are
under chamfered labels and have neither string course nor battered plinth
beneath. Interior: nave with open collar roof with ashlar pieces; chancel,
open wagon roof with scissor struts, 2-centred chancel arch has supporting
columns with waist bands and capitals related to that on the west front.
Chancel: aumbry under trefoiled head in north wall; attached columns with
water-lily capitals to jambs of east window, wooden bench in position of
sedilia beneath south-west window; segmental-headed recess in-south wall is
obscured by late C19 organ manual and pipes. Vestry: piscina on east wall has
2-centred head and sexfoil drain on cavetto moulded cill supported by two
brackets each pierced horizontally and laterally with a small hole; fireplace
to cylindrical chimney has 2-centred arch with inset semi-circular headed cast
iron grate aperture; studded oak medieval chest with two lids and heavy strap
hinges, probably from previous parish church; austere marble wall monument to
Rev John Jones, rector of parish (and therefore of previous church) died 1857,
recording that he was a benefactor of the new church. Nave: pulpit has
cyclindrical plan, battered base, chamfered top and curved chamfered buttresses
to north and south, the latter forming a hand rail alongside the steps, moulded
desk supported by two brackets on marble wall shafts with acanthus leaves
running from the brackets to abaci; font: basin is octagonal with moulded
top edge and sunken quatrefoil side panels supported on four columns with
red marble shafts each with different capitals, cast iron late C19 stove
by C Portway & Son, Halstead, Essex, inscribed, "The Tortoise Stove/ No 4/
Slow but Sure". Inside the west window is a massive corbelled square section
pier, under the bell turret, which characteristically has two layers of
foliage above acanthus buds. The present church is 50 yards north-north-east
of its predecessor. (RCHM Vol II, p 127; BoE p 237).

Listing NGR: SO6709536480

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26590140

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

• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)