Church of St Michael, Ford, Shropshire

Description

SJ 4013-4113 FORD C.P. FORD

13/55 Church of St. Michael
13.6.58

GV II

Parish church. Circa 1200 with early C14 and mid-C19 alterations;
restored, enlarged and partly rebuilt in 1875 by E. Haycock of Shrewsbury.
Squared and coursed Alberbury breccia and red sandstone rubble with red and
grey sandstone dressings; plain tile roof. Nave and chancel in one;
mid-C19 former west porch and late C19 south porch, lean-to north aisle
and vestry, and western bellcote. Parapeted gable ends, with cross at
apex to east; small lead-covered conical finial at junction of nave and
chancel; C19 stack to vestry: chamfered to square shaft with chamfered
corners and chamfered top; gabled western bellcote with 2 chamfered
cinquefoil-headed openings, battered sides, chamfered offset, and gable
string. South side: 2 large buttresses with chamfered offsets; C19
cinquefoil-headed chamfered lancet to left with hoodmould; central C19
window consisting of 2 cinquefoil-headed chamfered lancets flanking
lower trefoil-headed chamfered lancet with cusped curved-sided triangular
light above, and returned hoodmould overall; small reset C13 chamfered
lancet to left of central window; C19 window to right with 2 chamfered
cinquefoil-headed lights, Y-tracery and hoodmould with carved stops; c.1200
roll-moulded round-arched south doorway off-centre to left has pair of C19
boarded doors with strap hinges; C19 porch with chamfered plinth, continuously-
moulded arched entrance with hoodmould and carved stops, and gable with
2 strings, small lancet opening, and cross at apex; left-hand return front
has star-shaped quatrefoil window with chamfered surround lighting small
chamfered Caernarvon-arched seat recess within; C13 priest's doorway off-
centre to right with continuously chamfered arch and C19 boarded door
with strap hinges; straight joint to left of priest's door; north side:
5 bayswith dividing buttresses; windows with 3 quatrefoil- or cinquefoil-
headed chamfered lights, except for one single light; left-hand end with
trefoil-headed diamond-leaded lancet and right-hand end has window with
2 trefoil-headed chamfered lights and vesica-shaped quatrefoil plate
tracery above; west end: buttress to left; gabled former porch with coved
eaves, parapeted gable end with shaped footstones, and west window with
moulded cill; 2 quatrefoil headed chamfered lights, trefoiled tracery, and
returned hoodmould with carved stops; east end: chamfered plinth and
large diagonal buttresses with chamfered offsets; late C19 three light
window consisting of cinquefoil-headed chamfered lights flanking taller
trefoil-headed chamfered light, chamfered reveals with stops, moulded cill,
and hoodmould with carved stops. Interior: 3+2 baysC15 roof; hammer-beam
trusses arch-braced to collar, truss at junction of nave and chancel with
chamfered and ogee-stopped tie-beam and collar above, and collar and tie-beam
truss at west end of nave with raking struts; pairs of purlins and pierced cusped
wind braces, farming quatrefoil patterns; 1875 four-bay north aisle arcade: octagonal
piers with moulded capitals and bases, double-chamfered arches, and continuous
hoodmould with carved stops; arch at west end of nave to former porch with
double chamfer dying into responds and hoodmould with carved stops;
west window with chamfered rear arch; nave right-hand south window with
shouldered rear-arch and C13 lancet with round rear arch; north aisle
with chamfered rear-arches, west window with trefoiled rear-arch, and
chamfered arch at east end to organ chamber; part of chancel north wall
projecting above corbels; organ chamber has moulded arch dying into
chamfered responds and hoodmould with carved stops; C19 chamfered rear-
arch to priest's doorway chamfered shouldered arch to sedile, east window
with chamfered rear arch and hoodmould with carved stops. Fittings: reredos,
given by R. N. Pemberton (perpetual curate 1817-19): made up from C17
panels and some carved pieces probably Flemish of c.1530 including
4 large figures and a smaller Madonna and Child; C17 chair; C19 wooden
altar rails; choir stalls of c.1937; C15 chancel screen partly restored
in 1875, with cusped ogee lights and moulded cornice; c.1937 octagonal
wooden pulpit with traceried panels; pews of 1875; c.1937 south doorcase
with traceried-panelled doors and carved vine trail frieze; c.1875 octagonal
stone font with moulded base, raised crosses on alternate sides of bowl,
moulded top and wooden cover with wrought ironwork; C19 lamps with brass
brackets and glass covers; probably C18 painted royal coat of arms on north
wall of nave; early C19 painted communion boards in former west porch.
3 late C18 memorial tablets to the Ambler family. There are two C20
paintings of the church as it was or might have been in the C18 or early
C19. The chancel was rebuilt in 1832 when the triple-lancet east window
was replaced by a rectangular mullioned 3-light window. This was in turn
replaced in 1875. The south door was blocked in the mid-C19 and a west
porch erected which might also have served as a vestry. The south door
was reinstated in 1875. Box pews, pulpit and reading desk, a baluster font
and west gallery were all replaced in 1875. The 1875 restoration and
alterations cost £1,400. V.C.H., Vol. VIII, pp.236-7; B.O.E., p.131;
D. H. S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire,
Part 6, pp.526-7; Kelly's Directory of Herefordshire and Shropshire (1905),
pp.98-9; Guide to St. Michael's Church, Ford.

Listing NGR: SJ4121813857

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Church of St Michael

A Grade II Listed Building in Ford, Shropshire

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