St Mary's Church,

Patshull Patshull is a former parish now in the civil parish of Pattingham and Patshull, South Staffordshire, 7 miles west of Wolverhampton and 7½ miles east of Bridgnorth. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 212. The parish consisted of ...

, is a redundant

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in the parish of Pattingham and Patshull,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England, and is situated near

Patshull Hall Patshull Hall is a substantial Georgian mansion house situated near Pattingham in Staffordshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building and by repute is one of the largest listed buildings in the county. History The Hall was built to designs by ...

. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The church stands in parkland beside a lake.

History

St Mary's was built in about 1743, and was designed by James Gibbs for Sir John Astley. It replaced an earlier

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

church on the site. Additions were made to it in 1874 by W. C. Banks. These included a north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

, a bell tower, and a dome.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, with lead roofs. Its plan consists of a three-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with a north aisle, a single-bay

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

with a north

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

, and a west tower. At the corners of the church and the tower are rusticated quoins. The tower is in three stages, the lower and middle stages being separated by a

string course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the ...

, and between the middle and top stages is a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. It contains round-headed and circular windows, and in the top stage are round-headed louvred bell openings flanked by Tuscan

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s. It is surmounted by a lead

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

. At the east end of the church is a Venetian window, above which is a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

. Along the sides of the church are round-headed windows and, in the nave between these, are circular windows. In the middle of the south side is a porch supported by Tuscan pillars.

Interior

Between the nave and the north aisle is an arcade of round arches supported on square

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

consists of a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

baluster A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...

. Between the nave and chancel is a

gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

screen added by Banks. In the church are memorials to members of the Astley family. These include one to an earlier Sir John Astley who died in 1532. It is in alabaster and consists of two recumbent figures on a chest tomb. Another is to Sir Richard Astley who died in 1687. This consists of a standing figure between two seated wives, and is joined to the other monument by a frieze. Another monument is to a Lord Pigot who died in 1795 and to

Sir Robert Pigot, 2nd Baronet Sir Robert Pigot, 2nd Baronet (20 September 1720 – 1 August 1796) was a Great Britain, British Army officer during the American Revolutionary War. Life Robert Pigot was born in London, England in 1720. His two brothers were George Pigot, 1st ...

who died the following year. Against the south wall of the nave is a medieval coffin lid.

External features

Around the church are three structures, each of which has been listed at Grade II. These consist of the walls, gates and gate piers to the northeast and south of the churchyard, a gate, gate piers and adjoining walls to the east of the churchyard, and gate piers and gates to the northeast of the chancel. The churchyard contains the war graves of two soldiers of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

References