St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley

St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley
St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley (Cheshire)
St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley
Shown within Cheshire
Basic information
Location Barthomley, Cheshire, England
Geographic coordinates 53°04′07″N 2°20′49″W / 53.0685, -2.3470Coordinates: 53°04′07″N 2°20′49″W / 53.0685, -2.3470
Religious affiliation Anglican
District Diocese of Chester
Ecclesiastical status Parish church
Architectural description
Architect(s) Austin and Paley
Architectural type Church
Architectural style Perpendicular
Year completed 1926
Specifications
Materials Red sandstone, lead roof

St Bertoline's Church, Barthomley is in the village of Barthomley, Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ767524). It is a Grade I listed building.[1] The church stands in an elevated position on Barrow Hill, which was an ancient burial ground.[2] It was the scene of a massacre in the Civil War. Richards considers it to be one of the most beautiful churches in the county and believes it is the only one in England to be dedicated to St Bertoline.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

The nave and tower date from the late 15th century[1] and the Crewe chapel from about 1528.[4] There was a restoration of the church between 1852 and 1854.[3] The chancel, designed by Austin and Paley, was built in 1925–26[1] by the Marquess of Crewe as a memorial to family members.[3]

On Christmas Eve 1643, during the civil war, the church was the scene of a massacre. About 20 Parliamentary supporters had taken refuge in the church when Royalist forces under the command of Lord Byron started a fire. The Parliamentarians surrendered but 12 of them were then murdered.[3][5][6]

[edit] Structure

The church is built in red sandstone with a lead roof in perpendicular style.[1] Its oldest part is a Norman blocked doorway in the north wall sited in a gap between the end of the aisle and the vestry[7] which was moved to its present position in the nineteenth century.[3]

The church stands above the road and is reached by a flight of steps.[3] Its plan consists of a tower at the west end, a four-bay nave with a clerestory and north and south aisles, a north porch, and a chancel with a vestry to its north. At the east end of the south aisle is the Crewe chapel.[4] The tower dates from the late 15th century. At its west end is a door, above which is a four-light perpendicular window, two-light belfry windows on each face and a clock on the north face.[1] Flanking the belfry windows on each side are coats of arms of local families.[8] The summit of the tower is embattled, it has eight crocketted pinnacles and gargoyles at the four corners. The nave and aisles are also embattled. In the porch is its original stone holy water font. The east window has five lights.[1] The camber beam panelled roofs of the nave and north aisle date from the 16th century.[8]

[edit] Fittings and furniture

Many of the old fittings were lost in the 1852–54 restoration but the parclose screen which formerly divided the Crewe Chapel from the chancel was preserved[3] and it now encloses the organ at the east end of the north aisle.[1] In the church are English oil paintings of Moses and Aaron. The stained glass in the west window is by Clayton and Bell and is dated 1873. The glass in the east window is dated 1925 and is by Shrigley and Hunt. The communion plate includes cups dated 1669–70 and 1676–77.[9]

In the Crewe Chapel is the recumbent alabaster effigy of Sir Robert de Foulshurst, who distinguished himself at the battle of Poitiers, dressed as a knight in armour dated around 1390. The side of the tomb chest has Gothic arches underneath which are six male and six female figures. Also in the chapel is the recumbent figure of a clergyman, probably Robert Foulshurst, rector of Barthomley who died in 1529.[3] Later memorials are the marble figure of Lady Houghton, who died in 1890, by J Edgar Boehm, a Victorian Gothic monument to the first Lord Crewe, and two large wall monuments to other members of the Crewe family. In the south wall of the chancel is a two-arched sedilla.[1] Of the ring of eight bells, five date from 1743, one from 1747 and two from 1908. The parish registers begin in 1562 and the churchwardens' accounts in 1660.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Images of England: The Church of St.Bertoline, Barthomley. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  2. ^ Thornber, Craig (2002-02-15). A Scrapbook of Cheshire Antiquities: Barthomley. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Richards, Raymond (1947). Old Cheshire Churches. London: Batsford, 43–47. 
  4. ^ a b Salter, Mark (1995). The Old Parish Churches of Cheshire. Malvern: Folly Publications, 22. ISBN 1871731232. 
  5. ^ Plant, David (2005-09-27). Sir John, Lord Byron c.1599–1652. British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate 1638–60. David Plant. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  6. ^ Plant, David (2006-05-11). 1643–4: The Nantwich Campaign. British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate 1638–60. David Plant. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  7. ^ St Bertoline, Barthomley. Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture of Great Britain and Ireland. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  8. ^ a b Morant, Roland W. (1989). Cheshire Churches. Birkenhead: Countyvise, 103–4. ISBN 0 907768 18 0. 
  9. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Edward Hubbard [1971] (2003). The Buildings of England: Cheshire. New Haven: Yale University Press, 71–72. ISBN 0 300 09588 0. 

[edit] External links