Description

PRIORS HARDWICK CHURCH END
SP4756 (East side)
14/98 Church of St. Mary
30/05/67

GV II*

Church. Late C13; nave c.1300; porch C14. Upper part of tower C15. Re-roofed,
nave largely rebuilt and vestry added 1868. Ironstone: chancel and tower of
squared rubble; nave, porch and vestry regular coursed. Tile roofs have C19
coped gable parapets. High, wide chancel and nave, west tower, south porch and
north vestry. 3-bay chancel, 3-bay nave. Chancel has moulded double splayed
plinth. Diagonal buttresses with 3 offsets. Sill course. Unusual 3-light east
window of lancets and 3 spherical triangles; bottom part blocked. South doorway
of 2 hollow-chamfered orders and rich hood mould has splayed jambs and remains
of stiff-leaf capitals; nook shafts missing. Plank door. Short eastern window,
set high up, of 4 lights, with uncusped circles. Central and 3 north windows
have Y-tracery. South-west window originally similar, but with top removed.
Deep, moulded splayed sills. South porch has doorway with outer chamfered and
inner moulded order, hood mould and return stops. Double doors with wooden
grilles. Small blocked ogee windows, cut from single blocks. Inside south
doorway of c.1300 has outer hollow and inner moulded order, and remains of hood
mould. Plank door. Stone benches. Nave has east angle buttresses with 3 offsets
and west diagonal buttresses with 2 offsets; south-east buttress dated 1868.
South-east window has Y-tracery. Larger central 2-light, south-west 3-light and
north windows have cusped Y- and intersecting tracery. Low square north vestry
has north window of paired trefoiled 2-light straight-headed windows. Large
moulded cornice and parapet; flat roof. Tower has west angle buttresses with 2
offsets. West lancet. North and west sides have clock faces of 1938; south side
has narrow ogee lancet. Bell openings of paired narrow trefoiled round arched
lights, with stone louvres. Moulded cornice and moulded crenellated parapet.
Simple pinnacles. Interior: plastered walls. East window has thin nook shafts,
stiff-leaf capitals arid imposts, and elaborately moulded arch. North and south
chancel windows have rere arches with hood moulds, to north continuous, with
head corbels. Moulded sill course. Aumbry, without door, in north wall. Very
fine late C13 piscina and 2 sedilia, carved with naturalistic foliage, of 3
moulded orders with shafts. Piscina has C19 openwork cinqfoiled arch and cicular
basin within octagonal shelf. Continuous hood mould with a head end stop.
Panelled wagon roof with moulded ribs. Very elaborate C19 Early English style
chancel arch of 3 orders with naturalistic carving. Nave has continuous sill
course and hood mould, forming round arch above south door and arch above door
to vestry. Plain tower arch. Arched braced roof, with cinqfoiled lancets and
quatrefoils above collar. Large stone corbels carved with medieval style cowled
figures. Fittings: plain C13 font. Turned communion rails with pendants of
c.1700. Monument: remains of a C15 incised slab.
(V.C.H.: Warwickshire: Vol. 5 pp 138-139; Buildings of England: Warwickshire, p
377).

Listing NGR: SP4717156193

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17551118

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

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)