Church of St Peter and St Paul and lych gate, Longbridge Deverill, Wiltshire

Summary

Anglican parish church. C12 or earlier, C14 and C16. Partly rebuilt in the mid-C19, with various restorations between 1847 and 1860.

Description

Anglican parish church. C12 or earlier, C14 and C16. Partly rebuilt in the mid-C19, with various restorations between 1847 and 1860.

MATERIALS: constructed of random limestone rubble with dressings of Bath stone. There are varied pitched roofs of plain tiles tiled and Welsh slate, with ceramic ridge cresting and coped verges.

PLAN: the church is orientated west to east and comprises the nave and aisles, chancel with side chapels, west tower, vestry and a south porch.

EXTERIOR: the gabled C19 porch has a pointed doorway with hoodmould with a group of cusped lancets to the sides and coped verges. The south aisle has a pair of cusped lancets to the left of the porch and one to the right. There is a plain blocking course with string course and coping. The clerestory has three chamfered lancets. The south chapel has a chamfered pointed priest's doorway, a small lancet to the right and a two-light geometric-style window to the left. There are diagonal buttresses to the east and a two-light geometric-style window. The chancel has two two-light geometric-style windows to the south side, a large three-light geometric-style window to the east end, and three two-light geometric-style windows to the north. The Bath Chapel has a three-light geometric-style window to its east elevation and three two-light windows to the north side. The three-bay north aisle has a blocking course, two two-light C16 cusped mullioned windows and one three-light window with arched lights with keystones; all with square hoodmoulds. The north wall of the clerestory has three lancets. The stair turret is three sided; it has a pointed doorway to the ground floor, three loopholes, and a pointed stone-tiled roof. The three-stage west tower has angle buttresses and a battered plinth. There is a large three-light transomed Perpendicular west window, chamfered lancets to the second stage, two-light louvred Perpendicular windows to the bellstage, and a string course to the battlemented parapet.

INTERIOR: the porch has a pointed inner doorway with hoodmould with carved heads and a braced collar-rafter roof. The nave has a six-bay wagon roof. The three-bay north arcade has plain chamfered semi-circular arches with plain abaci on square chamfered piers; the five-bay south arcade has double-chamfered pointed arches. The aisles have moulded tie-beam roofs. The tower arch has C14 stylised leaf capitals to a double chamfered arch, and there is a pointed doorway to the stairs. The pointed chancel arch is C19 and has foliated capital. In the chancel are polychrome encaustic floor tiles by Minton, Hollins & Co., and stamped ceramic wall decoration; it has a wagon roof. The Bath Chapel is entered from the north aisle through a double-chamfered arch with a 1921 neo-Jacobean-style, tromp d'oeil screen to Ralph Brocklebank (d.1921), designed by F C Eden and made by Frederick Tibbenham of Ipswich. Two pointed arches on compound piers lead into the chancel. The chapel has a polychrome tiled floor and wall tiles, decorated with the Bath arms. The Art Nouveau bronze and alabaster memorial font or stoup to Lord John Thynne (d.1887) is by Alfred Gilbert and was formerly in the tower. The chest tomb to John Ludlow (d. 1519) which carries the Ludlow heraldic arms is now the chapel altar. It was brought here, along with a number of other smaller monuments, from the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Hill Deverill when it closed in the late C20.

OTHER FITTINGS: in the nave is a C13 cylindrical font with enriched scallops to the underside and a C17 cover, and a baroque-style wooden pulpit. The chancel altar, found in the churchyard in 1858, is incised with crosses. The wooden memorial reredos of 1917-18, carved with figures of saints and set in a Jacobean Revival frame, is by C E Ponting, carved by Herbert Read of Exeter. There are several other screens: one to the south chapel/vestry of 1922, also by Eden; a C18-style screen with Ionic columns and segmental pediment, formerly to the tower, now adjacent to the Bath Chapel screen; and a Jacobean screen of c.1700 to the west end of the south aisle with composite pilasters, arched panels and cartouches, brought here from Hatfield Church, Hertfordshire in 1924. The altar rails, pews and choir stalls are mid-C19. The organ, possibly brought from elsewhere and relocated to the tower, has a case by Sweetland of Bath; relief Royal Arms over the south door. The war memorial in the nave dates from 1919, designed by Eden and painted by A Marcus. There is a varied collection of stained glass: the east window dated 1931 is by C E Kempe & Co. Ltd., and there are other windows by Kempe in the north aisle and the clerestorey; a south aisle window of 1924 and one to the north aisle of 1926 designed by Eden. Memorials in the Bath Chapel, some from the earlier church, include a C18 marble memorial to Sir John Thynne (d.1580); C17 wooden memorials to the Coker family; marbles to Elizabeth, Marchioness of Bath (d.1825) by Francis Chantrey; and to the 2nd Marquess of Bath (d.1837).

SUBSIDIARY FEATURE: at the south-eastern entrance to the churchyard is a lych gate, dated 1903, and given by the Rev. Canon W D Morrice, a former vicar of the church, in memory of his children. It has timber-framed sides, resting on stone pads, and a pair of timber gates. The pitched roof is clad in shingles and is surmounted by a cross.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 26 October 2017.

History

The manor of Longbridge Deverill belonged to the Abbots of Glastonbury from the C10. Following the Reformation it was bought by Sir John Thynne who was responsible for the construction of Longleat House, the seat of the Marquesses of Bath, which formerly stood in the parish of Longbridge Deverill. In the late C18 his descendent, Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth, became the first Marquess of Bath.

A church at Longbridge Deverill is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, and the north arcade of the present building indicates that there was a substantial church here in the Norman period, perhaps by the first quarter of the C12. The belfry openings and the western arch indicate that tower was built in the early C14 along with the south arcade. The north aisle (but not the arcade) was rebuilt in the Perpendicular style in the C16. The medieval east end, which according to an early-C19 illustration had been modified in the C18, was demolished in the mid-C19 as part of the transformation of the church to make it a more fitting final resting place for the Marquesses of Bath. The identity of the architect responsible is not known. It is likely that an extended campaign of extension and embellishment was begun whilst Lord Charles Thynne was the vicar between 1837 and 1852 and was continued into the early 1860s by John Alexander Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath. He was a keen Anglo-Catholic, which helps to explain the layout and lavishness of the eastern parts of the church. 1852 marked the point of greatest activity when the chancel, Bath Chapel and south-east vestry were demolished and rebuilt on a larger scale and re-fitted. The church was embellished during interwar decades of the C20, not only by the Marquesses of Bath, but also by other individuals, notably the Rev. J Brocklebank who was the vicar between 1912 and 1927 and a generous benefactor to the church.

Reasons for Listing

The Church of St Peter and St Paul, with C12 or earlier, C14 and C16 fabric, and partial rebuilding and various restorations between 1847 and 1860, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* Medieval fabric: the C12 north arcade and C14 tower and south arcade represent a significant survival of medieval fabric of considerable architectural quality;
* Exterior: the overall massing and the incorporation of elements of varying height and size add interest to the church;
* Artistic interest: it is adorned with a variety of decorative fixtures and fittings of a superior quality and craftsmanship, notably a number of stylish neo-Georgian screens and monuments, an important sculpture by Alfred Gilbert, and stained glass by C E Kempe & Co. Ltd., and these contribute significantly to the interest of the interior;
* Historic interest: as the mausoleum of the Thynne family of Longleat House, the church has had a long-standing patronage with a rich and aristocratic family which confers significant historic interest on the building;
* Group value: with the lych gate and a chest tomb in the churchyard.

External Links

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