Description

WHITCHURCH URBAN C.P. DODINGTON (south-west SJ 5441 side) 8/61 Former Church of Saint 1.5.51 Catherine GV II

Chapel of ease, now builder's store. Dated 1836. Red brick, with front faced in brown/grey sandstone ashlar. Graded slate roof. 5-bay nave with short chancel, transepts at west end, and integral (liturgical) west tower. In a neo-classical style. West front: plinth, Tuscan pilasters supporting full entablature. 5-bays treated as central 3-bay temple front with pediment flanked by slightly-recessed single-bay wings, sides of which are treated as end temple fronts. Central projecting portico in antis with 2 unfluted Ionic columns and Tuscan antae. Broken attic over. Tall small-paned cast-iron windows with lugged moulded architraves. Central pair of 8-panelled doors (lower panels beaded flush and upper panels with vents) with stone doorcase consisting of tall unfluted Tuscan pilasters supporting entablature and cornice, with blocking course above, raised and projecting to centre with canted top. Half-H panel datestone above door with superscribed lettering: "MDCCCXXXVI". Central 2-stage tower rising out of pediment. Square lower stage with moulded cornice and blocking course. Octagonal lantern to top stage (of alternating long and short sides) with Tuscan antae supporting full entablature and low pyramidal cap. Lower stage with circular clock to front, louvred occuli to sides and carved coat of arms (Bridgewater Arms) at base to front. Nave with plinth, brick band beneath eaves, and stone coped parapeted gable end with acroterion at apex. Small-paned cast-iron windows with stone cills and gauged-brick heads. Chancel with raised eaves band and hipped roof. Venetian east window, devoid of ornament. Interior: partly stripped and gutted since redundancy. Vestibule beneath tower with round arches to west transepts and into nave. Gallery staircase in north transept with single-fluted stick balusters and curved handrail. Pair of large doors into nave, each with 8 flush panels. Nave: moulded cornice. Panelled plaster ceiling with egg and dart enrichment to cased beams, and plaster roses to central panels. Console brackets with acanthus ornament (removed on north wall). Gallery at west end, flanking organ. Small chancel flanked by Tuscan antae with anthemion and palmette ornament to capitals and supporting full entablature with wreaths and egg and dart enrichment to frieze. Interior of chancel with dado panelling and moulded cornice. Venetian east window with antae, entablature and moulded architrave to centre light. Some fittings remain. 2 steps up to chancel and wrought-iron altar rails with wooden rail. Early C19 wooden reredos with 4 panels, the central 2 panels with painted inscriptions: "I AM / THE BREAD / OF LIFE" (right-hand) and "I AM / THE TRUE / VINE" (right-hand), and the Lord's Prayer and Creed on the outer left- and right- hand panels respectively. Early C19 square wooden pulpit with raised and fielded panels to sides, Greek Doric corner columns, square tester with moulded cornice, and flight of wooden steps with closed string, stick balusters and columnular newels. In separate parts at time of survey (November 1986). Organ of c.1836 in west gallery. The early C19 Ionic lectern formerly in this church is now in the Church of Saint Alkmund, Church Street (q.v.). The tower clock (not working at time of survey) is said to be the oldest surving Joyce (the famous Whitchurch clockmakers) clock in England. Much of the walls were stripped of plaster at the time of survey, revealing early C19 building techniques, such as the round arches with flush stone keystones, and the wooden slips inserted around doors and windows on to which architraves and other ornament are fixed. The widow of the seventh Earl of Bridgewater was the patroness of the church. The church is so aligned that the liturgical east end is to the west. This description refers only to liturgical east, west. etc. B.O.E., p. 314; D.H.S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Part 8, p. 674.

Listing NGR: SJ5430341227

External Links

• Wikidata Q26648121

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