St James, Stirchley, Shropshire
In the 1970s, when I used to stay at my Grandparent's house when my Mum and Dad went disco dancing, or whatever they called it before disco dancing was a thing, there was a TV series they used to watch called "How Green was my Valley". I remember little of it, except Granddad saying the valley was go green because of all the rain.
So, on Sunday, the rain was due to fall in the valleys, the hills and all else between.
What to do when we had come away without coasts and umbrella?
Churchcrawling.
And thanks to the Church Conservation Trust, you ban fairly reply on those under their care to be open. I made a list of their churches in Shropshire, and after breakfast we set off for the first one, passing through the village of Knocking
.
I kid ye not.
Where the village shop is called, of course, The Knockin Shop.
I also kid ye not.
Rain fell, roads were nearly flooded, so we splish-splashed our way across the county, down valley and up hills until we came to the entrance of an estate.
Here be a church.
Not sure if we could drive to it, I got out and walked, getting damp as the rain fell through the trees.
But the church was there, and open, if poorly lit inside. And I was able to get shots before walking up the hill to the car.
Two more churches tried, but they were locked and no keyholder about. So onto Wroxter, where a large and imposing church towered over the road. And to get there we passed through a former Roman settlement from which the modern town took its name. Most impressive was a reconstruction of a villa.
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When you open the wrought iron gate to enter the churchyard of St James' Church, the first impression is of a typical small 18th-century church.
It is built of brick with round arches dressed with local sandstone in a simple neo-classical style with its west tower and simple nave.
Walk round the side of the church, however, and the solid mass of sandstone blocks that make up the heavy square chancel, comes as something of a shock.
The tiny narrow windows give an impression of great antiquity.
This is part of the original church building that was built around the middle of the 12th century. It is almost 900 years old.
Inside the church, the same startling contrast can be seen.
High box pews and a wooden two-decker pulpit typical of the 1700s are set against a magnificent Norman arch carved with three different motifs.The earliest arch dates from about the year 1150.
Both the church and its churchyard are Scheduled Ancient Monuments and the church building itself has a Grade I listing, reflecting both its national historical and architectural importance.
Architectural evidence shows Stirchley church to be of Norman origin and to date from the 12th century. However, it is also suggested that the chancel arch may actually be set in an even older Anglo-Saxon one.
Walter, described as the chaplain of Stirchley, is the first rector whose name is known. He was the priest here from c1220-1230. However, the church was over 100 years old by the time Walter conducted the services here.
Of the foundation of Stirchley church, Rev Robert Eyton wrote in his ‘The Antiquities of Shropshire' 1885:
‘This was in its original state a chapel, probably in the Parish of Idsall [Shifnal], and founded by the Manorial Lords of Stirchley in the twelfth century.’
The chancel is the oldest visible part of the building and probably dates from about 1150. It is almost square and has small Norman round-arched windows. Old masonry on the inner face of the nave and tower walls is also likely to be 12th century. The work may have been financed by first recorded lord of the manor, Osbert of Stirchley who was the under-tenant here from 1167 to 1180.
The ornate late-12th-century chancel arch is set in a larger and earlier arch, probably of the mid-12th century. The stone used is local sandstone. This is a particularly fine chancel arch with two orders of shafts with scalloped and foliage capitals and three orders of arches with rosette, chain-link and zigzag patterns.
stirchleychurchandrectorysalop.jimdofree.com/stirchley-ch...
St James, Stirchley, Shropshire
In the 1970s, when I used to stay at my Grandparent's house when my Mum and Dad went disco dancing, or whatever they called it before disco dancing was a thing, there was a TV series they used to watch called "How Green was my Valley". I remember little of it, except Granddad saying the valley was go green because of all the rain.
So, on Sunday, the rain was due to fall in the valleys, the hills and all else between.
What to do when we had come away without coasts and umbrella?
Churchcrawling.
And thanks to the Church Conservation Trust, you ban fairly reply on those under their care to be open. I made a list of their churches in Shropshire, and after breakfast we set off for the first one, passing through the village of Knocking
.
I kid ye not.
Where the village shop is called, of course, The Knockin Shop.
I also kid ye not.
Rain fell, roads were nearly flooded, so we splish-splashed our way across the county, down valley and up hills until we came to the entrance of an estate.
Here be a church.
Not sure if we could drive to it, I got out and walked, getting damp as the rain fell through the trees.
But the church was there, and open, if poorly lit inside. And I was able to get shots before walking up the hill to the car.
Two more churches tried, but they were locked and no keyholder about. So onto Wroxter, where a large and imposing church towered over the road. And to get there we passed through a former Roman settlement from which the modern town took its name. Most impressive was a reconstruction of a villa.
-------------------------------------------
When you open the wrought iron gate to enter the churchyard of St James' Church, the first impression is of a typical small 18th-century church.
It is built of brick with round arches dressed with local sandstone in a simple neo-classical style with its west tower and simple nave.
Walk round the side of the church, however, and the solid mass of sandstone blocks that make up the heavy square chancel, comes as something of a shock.
The tiny narrow windows give an impression of great antiquity.
This is part of the original church building that was built around the middle of the 12th century. It is almost 900 years old.
Inside the church, the same startling contrast can be seen.
High box pews and a wooden two-decker pulpit typical of the 1700s are set against a magnificent Norman arch carved with three different motifs.The earliest arch dates from about the year 1150.
Both the church and its churchyard are Scheduled Ancient Monuments and the church building itself has a Grade I listing, reflecting both its national historical and architectural importance.
Architectural evidence shows Stirchley church to be of Norman origin and to date from the 12th century. However, it is also suggested that the chancel arch may actually be set in an even older Anglo-Saxon one.
Walter, described as the chaplain of Stirchley, is the first rector whose name is known. He was the priest here from c1220-1230. However, the church was over 100 years old by the time Walter conducted the services here.
Of the foundation of Stirchley church, Rev Robert Eyton wrote in his ‘The Antiquities of Shropshire' 1885:
‘This was in its original state a chapel, probably in the Parish of Idsall [Shifnal], and founded by the Manorial Lords of Stirchley in the twelfth century.’
The chancel is the oldest visible part of the building and probably dates from about 1150. It is almost square and has small Norman round-arched windows. Old masonry on the inner face of the nave and tower walls is also likely to be 12th century. The work may have been financed by first recorded lord of the manor, Osbert of Stirchley who was the under-tenant here from 1167 to 1180.
The ornate late-12th-century chancel arch is set in a larger and earlier arch, probably of the mid-12th century. The stone used is local sandstone. This is a particularly fine chancel arch with two orders of shafts with scalloped and foliage capitals and three orders of arches with rosette, chain-link and zigzag patterns.
stirchleychurchandrectorysalop.jimdofree.com/stirchley-ch...