Medieval Parish Churches of England and Wales

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Misericords in the choir stalls


Misericords( literally mercy seat) are tip-up seats in the choir stalls.When turned up they supported the occupant while standind during long services. The undersides are carved. The subjects range from the fabulous,to the bawdy and subversive. There are 20 at Nantwich, including a mermaid, a woman beating her husband with a ladle and a fox pretending to be dead

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[christos-greece]

Just very nice photos you got from those churches

[openlyJane]

St Mary's Church in Nantwich looks lovely. The choir stalls are amazing.

[Linguine]

amazing photos from those churches, nice details...

[the golden vision]

Jane,Christos and Linguine, thank you.

[zaguric2]

Nice churches

[the golden vision]

Thanks

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St Leonard the Less, Samlesbury, Lancashire

The nave and chancel date from the 1550's, with the remains of the 12thc church visible in the gables, tower from the 1880's. Good monuments inside and a very pleasant setting.

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St Michael, Aughton, Nr Liverpool.


An ancient site of worship, an Anglo-Saxon cross shaft was discovered in the graveyard in the 19thc. There has been a church on this site since at least the 11thc but what stands today is mostly from the 14th and 15th centuries. The steeple, with its fine original spire dates from the 1340's. The chancel was rebuilt in the 1870's with some medieval carving from it preserved.

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The 15thc nave and a carved figure from the 16th, salvaged from the chancel before its rebuilding in the 1870's.

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A blocked doorway from the 12thc in the south aisle.

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St Mary, Tutbury, Staffordshire.

Founded in the 11thc, this church has one of the finest Norman doorways of not just a parish church but any church in England. The tower is from the 16thc and the chancel from the 1860's.

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The west doorway with its sevens orders of ornament, these include,beakhead,chevron and animal heads. The outermost order is of alabaster, the earliest recorded use of this material in England.

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The south aisle doorway with its badly weathered carving of boar hunting.

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The interior, with its massive Norman columns and their scalloped capitals.

[yubnub]

lovely, although for some reason I find the later gothic windows with their pointed arches sitting inside the rounded norman arches to be very odd for some reason that i cant quite explain

[the golden vision]

Some of the gothic work was by the Victorian architect G.E. Street,who like of a lot Victorian architects couldn't resist messing about with medieval churches,and in some cases downright mutilation. Nantwich church which is on the previous page had a completely new doorway inserted in the Early English style,by George Gilbert Scott, complete with bell capitals and dogtooth ornament, nothing less than vandalism. I didn't show it on thread because its an abomination!

[the golden vision]

Below is the west doorway of St Mary, Nantwich. This is a replacement of the 1850's by George Gilbert Scott of the original doorway,which was in the Decorated gothic style, the Scott doorway is Early English Gothic,Scott's preferred style, he also replaced a Perpendicular Gothic window at the church with one in the Early English style. St Mary, Nantwich is church of the 14th and 15th centuries,Scott's interventions are totally out of keeping with the rest of the church.
Scott was by no means alone in the Victorian period with this type of destructive intervention in medieval churches. To their credit ,William Morris and John Ruskin spoke out against this meddling, Morris even refusing to permit his stained glass to be used in them.(which in hindsight is a pity considering what was used)

[aarhusforever]

Very interesting thread with beautiful photos