Description

SWERFORD CHURCH END
SP3731
9/183 Church of St. Mary
27/08/56
GV II*
Church. Late C13. and C15, restored and enlarged 1846 by H.J. Underwood.
3-bay nave and north aisle, chancel, west steeple, south porch and north-east
vestry. Marlstone ashlar and some rubble; lead and Welsh-slate roofs. Slated
chancel has a traceried east window of 1859 in a Perpendicular opening and has,
to south, 2 blocked C15 windows, and a 2-light square-headed window with ogee
tracery and a low transom, below which are 4 small ogee-treaded lights; rubble
walls and low buttresses may be C13. Parapetted ashlar nave has a Decorated
south doorway, with continuous moulding and ballflower ornament plus an old
plank door, sheltered by a late C14 porch with parapet, large gargoyles and a
sundial; south wall has 3 large square-headed 3-light windows of c.1400 with
quatrefoils in the tracery, and above them single-light clerestory windows with
ogee tracery. North clerestory has 2 small C16 windows. C19 north aisle has
trefoil-headed lancets and a 2-light east window with plate tracery. Late C13
ashlar 3-stage tower, with shallow buttresses to the first stage, has cusped
lancets to south and, in the top stage, has cusped 2-light bell-chamber openings
with transoms; broach spire, rising from a cornice with gargoyles at the angles,
is probably slightly later. Contemporary lean-to extension to north has a
trefoil-headed lancet above a small west door. Interior: late C14 chancel arch;
C19 north arcade with octagonal piers; twin arches to tower and its extension of
3 and 2 chamfered orders dying into chamfered responds. Roofs all C19, with
traceried spandrels in nave and aisle. C15 panelled font. Chancel floor, of
black and white marble, may be late C17 and includes many C18 ledgers. Wall
monuments in chancel to Jones family (mid C18) in an architectural surround with
triangular pediment, and to the Travell family (erected 1775) with a garlanded
urn. Fittings all C19 and plain. Hatchnent in nave. Fragments of medieval
stained glass in tracery lights of south windows; C19 patterned east window with
central pictorial panel.
(Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, p.798).

Listing NGR: SP3723831130

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17531889

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

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  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
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  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
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  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)