Church of St Faith

Details

SO 33 SE BACTON CP -

5/1 Church of St Faith 26/1/67 -

GV II*

Parish church. C13 with later additions up to C16, with late C19 rebuilding and additions. Old red sandstone, slate roofs. West tower, continuous nave and chancel, south porch, north organ chamber and projection for stairs to rood loft. Externally undivided. Two storey C16 castellated tower: weathered angie-buttresses at junction with nave, string-course beneath battlements, paired semi-circular headed openings containing louvres to belfy, central weather-cock to roof, early C20 clock face on east side. Two-bay nave and 2-bay chancel nave, C15 square-headed windows of 2 types. Paired cinque- foil lights with spandrels in moulded chamfered reveals: one either side of late C19 south porch and one in chancel wall. To west of C15 4-centred arch priests' doorway with 2 concave and 2 convex continuous mouldings in similar window but with paired ogee-headed lights. East window, probably C15, was apparently re-set in late C19 rebuilding of east wall of chancel: beneath transom are 3 trefoiled lights above each of which are 2 smaller lights. North wail of chancel has another cinque-foiled window of the same type as in the south wall of nave. Weathered projection for newel stair to rood loft contains one upright rectangular light. West window of north side of nave is another of ogee type; the east window is cinque-foiled. Entrance through C15 doorway with 4-centred arch, a larger version of that to priests' door- way. Interior: unarcaded nave has wagon roof possibly C15, formerly ceiled, of 15 arch-braced collar trusses and sets of rafters with crenellated wall- plates retaining signs of painted crossed dumb-bells or 4-leafed shamrock motif near site of former rood loft. Chancel roof is probably trussed like the nave but now presents late C19 boarded ceiled wagon roof divided into panels at the junction of which are square floral bosses. The enriched wall-plate continues from the nave into the chancel where there are 6 angels on each side, the eastern ones facing diagonally inwards. Some of the angels appear to be late-medieval; some late C19. A large beam links the north and south wall-plates and marks the liturgical division between nave and chancel. On the north side 2 openings to rood loft stairs and rood loft have early C20 ledged doors. Slightly pointed late C12 - early C13 doorway from nave into tower with very under-stated keel on roll-moulding above which is a deeply splayed lancet indicating that the tower is an addition. Font: probably C13 is cylindrical on columnar shafts with circular plan base and undecorated. Late medieval altar-frontal in frame on north wall of have has design con- taining bears; birds and stags. Piscina, probably late C12, under chamfered pointed arched recess is formed in a fluted corbelled bracket. One pair of choir stalls, probably C15, the desks having 7 panels of blind ogee-headed tracery with poppy-heads at the ends, the seats moulded bench ends with crockets. Oak eagle lectern dated 1914. North side of choir has late C16 tomb of Blanche Parry, maid-of-honour to Elizabeth I, consisting of the deceased kneeling before a diminutive Queen under a coffered arch above a chest tomb with strapwork decoration all framed by Corinthian columns on pedestals supporting a cornice. On south side a wall monument to Elizabeth Morgan died 1812, aged 21: winged putti above, fluted obelisks framing an oval inscription plaque. 1883 organ in contemporary chamber extension. East of south door of nave is a wall monument to Alexander Stantar and his wife Rachel, died 1620 and 1663: bas-relief of them facing each other, Alexander holding a skull, the whole set in a plaque with 3 Tuscan columns. Four early C20 decorative paraffin roof lamps in the nave. All the main windows in the side wall of the church are of the 2 types identified above. All seem original: cinque-foil windows are in grey stone and ogival ones in red sandstone. The interior lintols of the first type are oak and cambered with broach chamfer stops whereas those of the second type are plain with plain chamfers. The Morgan monument is probably by the same hand as that in the churchyard (qv). (RCHM, Vol I; Buildings of England).

Listing NGR: SO3708332382

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

153604

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Inventory of Herefordshire I South West, (1931)
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Herefordshire, (1963)

End of official list entry

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