Church Of St Mary, Nettleton, Wiltshire, SN14 (Grade I)

NETTLETON BURTON ST 87 NW 2/327 Church of St. Mary 20.12.50

GV I

Anglican parish church, C13, C14 and C15, ashlar and rubble stone with stone tiled roofs and coped gables. West tower, nave, south porch and south transept, north aisle, north porch, north east chapel and chancel. Fine C15 tower similar to those at Yatton Keynell and West Kington. 3.stages with diagonal buttresses, heavy moulded plinth, and stringcourses. Moulded pointed west doorway with plank door set in shallow stone porch with cambered arched head. C15 4-light west window with hood. Plain second stage and top stage with panelled sides, 3 panels, each of 2 tiers of cusped paired panels. Top centre pair pierced for 2-light bell-openings, infilled with quatrefoil pierced stone screens. Dripcourse, panelled battlements and pinnacles. Nave has C15 east end Sanctus- bell turret and south side mostly C15 with a 3-light Perpendicular flat-headed window with hood each side of gabled south porch with moulded archway and plank door. High plinth moulding. South transept apparently C15 with stepped buttress in line with south gable and 3-light pointed C15 south window with hood. In angle to nave south east corner a large flat buttresses. Chancel mostly C15 with heavy high plinth moulding, stepped south buttress, diagonal east buttresses, 3-light and 2-light flat-headed south windows with hoods and pointed C15 3-light east window with hood. North east chapel has similar high plinth moulding around north east angle but east window is C14 3-light with cusped reticulated tracery. North C15 3-light flat-headed window with hood and priests door to west, low moulded arched doorway with framed plank door and sloping stone hood on brackets over. North aisle probably C13 much altered in c15, continuous roof with north east chapel. Flat buttresses to east end and west ends, north side. From east, a C15 3-light flat-headed window with hood and large carved head stops, a trefoil-head C13 single light, fine C15 porch and another C15 flat-headed 3-light window with carved heads to hood. Porch has high heavy moulded plinth, stepped angle and side buttresses, string course and moulded parapet course with 2 carved gargoyles beneath each side. Panelled battlements, missing on west side and surmounted by small gable with niche to front. Moulded pointed archway and moulded pointed inner archway with oak plank door and small rectangular trefoil-head panel over. Porch has tierceron-star vault on carved head corner corbels and with carved bosses. Gabled west end of aisle has pointed C15 3-light window with hood. Interior: Moulded shafted C15 tower arch. Nave with C15 plastered wagon roof in 10 bays with moulded ribs rising from carved corbel heads. Divided into panels by moulded ridge and horizontal member each side with carved bosses at intersections. Last 2 bays further subdivided into smaller panels. South doorway has fielded-panelled pointed door. One south window has crocketted niche in east reveal. Stair through wall at west side of transept to fine C15 stone pulpit with canted panelled front. South transept has moulded beam across carried on curved brackets from corbel heads. Small niche to left of south window. 5-bay north arcade apparently C13 with double chamfer arches with hoods and carved head stops. Circular piers on raised moulded square base. Carved capitals of late Norman or Transitional form, some with scallop carving, some with ballflower to lower moulding. Octagonal abaci. Fine Norman circular font fluted below, scales above and upper zigzag band. Continuous 2-hollow mouldings to chancel arch. 4 bay C15 roof, restored, plastered wagon roof with moulded ribs. Small north wall niche and south wall credence shelf. North aisle and chapel have plastered wagon roof, stone seat on part of north wall and small niche in chapel. Furnishings: early C18 altar rails, late C19 reredos with terracotta Last Supper panel by G. Tinworth of Doulton’s. 2 early to mid C18 wall monuments on chancel north wall and one of c1714 on south side. 2 late C17 brasses by pulpit. 3 C18 box pews in north aisle. Much C19 stained glass, some of c1854 with arms of G. P. Scrope of Castle Combe in north aisle and south transept, faded, c1874 north east window and much pictorial glass of c1890 signed E. Suffling in east, west, one chancel south window, 2 nave south windows and one north aisle windows.