St James' Church, Gawsworth

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St James' Church, Gawsworth

St James' Church, Gawsworth
St James' Church, Gawsworth (Cheshire)
St James' Church, Gawsworth
Shown within Cheshire
Basic information
Location Gawsworth, Cheshire, England
Geographic coordinates 53°13′28″N 2°09′50″W / 53.2244, -2.1640Coordinates: 53°13′28″N 2°09′50″W / 53.2244, -2.1640
Religious affiliation Anglican
District Diocese of Chester
Ecclesiastical status Parish church
Architectural description
Architectural type Church
Architectural style Perpendicular
Specifications
Materials Limestone nave
Sandstone tower and chancel
Lead roof

St James' Church, Gawsworth is in the village of Gawsworth, Cheshire, England near Gawsworth Hall (grid reference SJ890697). It is a Grade I listed building.[1] Clifton-Taylor includes it in his list of 'best' English parish churches.[2] Pevsner describes it a "very strange" church in that it has no aisles, a very wide nave and no structural separation of the chancel and nave.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

There is a record of a chapel on the site in the 13th century but the present building dates from the 15th century.[4]

[edit] Structure

The nave is the oldest part of the church dating from 1430 and is built from limestone. The tower and chancel were built some 40 years later in sandstone. The church is entirely perpendicular in style.[4] The plan of the church consists of a tower at the west end, a wide three-bay nave without aisles, a south porch and a chancel divided from the nave by a screen.[5] The tower has angular buttresses with niches which used to contain statues, gargoyles, coats of arms of Cheshire families and Tudor badges. The porch also has niches over the doorway.[4] The nave is embattled and has pinnacles.[3]

[edit] Fittings and furniture

The rafter beam ceiling of the nave dates from the 15th century and the camber beam chancel ceiling, which is panelled, dates from slightly later.[6] The chancel screen is dated 1894. The octagonal 16th century font sits on a 19th century stem with a wooden cover.[1] In the 19th century most of the old stained glass was removed, although fragments remain in the chancel windows.[4][7] The stained glass in the east window is by William Wailes.[3]

In the chancel are four tombs of members of the Fitton (Fytton) family. The oldest is an altar tomb to Francis Fytton dated 1608. On the top of the tomb is his recumbent bearded effigy and beneath him is a skeleton. Opposite is the monument to Dame Alice Fitton who died around 1626. In front of her seated effigy are effigies of her two sons kneeling and behind her are figures of her two daughters, also kneeling. Adjacent is the tomb of Sir Edward Fitton, 1st baronet, and his wife Anne who died in 1619 and 1644 respectively. In front of the tomb are the keeling figures of their three sons and seven daughters. One of the daughters was Mary, a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth I and a candidate for the "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets. The fourth tomb is to the memory of Sir Edward Fitton, 2nd baronet, who died in 1643, and his first wife Jane.[4]

The communion plate includes a cup and paten dating from the reign of Edward VI or Elizabeth I and a chalice dated 1762–63.[3] The ring is of eight bells, the oldest dating back to 1776. The parish registers date from 1557.[4]

[edit] External features

A pair of 18th century gatepiers at the entrance of the churchyard are listed Grade II. On their fronts are carvings of skull and crossbones.[8] In the churchyard is a 15th or 16th century cross base in sandstone ashlar. It consists of a square cross base and an octagonal shaft on a stepped plinth. A 20th century wooden circular cross has been set on the shaft.[9]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Images of England: Church of St James, Gawsworth. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
  2. ^ Clifton-Taylor, Alec (1974). English Parish Churches as Work of Art. London: Batsford, 240. ISBN 0 7134 2776 0. 
  3. ^ a b c d Pevsner, Nikolaus; Edward Hubbard [1971] (2003). The Buildings of England: Cheshire. New Haven: Yale University Press, 222–223. ISBN 0 300 09588 0. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f Richards, Raymond (1947). Old Cheshire Churches. London: Batsford, 160-164. 
  5. ^ Salter, Mark (1995). The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire. Malvern: Folly Publications, 38. ISBN 1871731232. 
  6. ^ Morant, Roland W. (1989). Cheshire Churches. Birkenhead: Countyvise, 133. ISBN 0 907768 18 0. 
  7. ^ Gawsworth, St James. Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (stained glass).
  8. ^ Images of England: Pair of Gatepiers in Churchyard of St James. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
  9. ^ Images of England: Cross base in churchyard of St James. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.