St Michael's and All Angels Church is in the village of

Guiting Power Guiting Power is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, in Gloucestershire, England. The population of the parish at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 296. Guiting Power stands on the slopes of a small valley formed by a trib ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. It is an active Anglican

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the deanery of Stow, the archdeaconry of Cheltenham and the

diocese of Gloucester The Diocese of Gloucester is a Church of England diocese based in Gloucester, covering the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire. The cathedral is Gloucester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Gloucester. It is part of the Province ...

. Its benefice is combined with those of St Faith, Farmcote, St Mary, Lower Slaughter, St Andrew, Naunton, St Mary, Temple Guiting, St James, Cutsdean, and St Peter, Upper Slaughter. The church contains fabric dating from the 12th century and is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

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 ...

. It formerly stood in the centre of the village, but the demolition of buildings since 1900 has left it standing at the village's southern end.

History

The church dates from the 12th century but only two

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

doorways remain from this period. The

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. Ov ...

was added later in the 12th century. The tower was built in the 15th century and at this time the walls of the

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 ...

were raised. Following an increase in the population of the village in the 19th century, the church was expanded. In 1820 the north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

was added and in 1844 the south transept was built; at this time the southern Norman doorway was moved to the south end of the transept. The

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of five bells was either restored or replaced in 1869 and a sixth bell was added at this time. By the beginning of the 20th century the church had fallen into a state of disrepair and in 1903 it was restored. The roofs were renewed, and the organ chamber and

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 ...

were added alongside the north transept. The chancel was completely rebuilt in its original design and stained glass windows were introduced. The organ was installed in 1978 and an additional stop was added in 1985.''St Michael and All Angels, Guiting Power'' (Church information leaflet)

Architecture

Exterior

St Michael's is constructed in

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

with limestone slate roofs. Its plan is

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

, consisting of a nave with north and south transepts, a west tower, and a chancel with a north vestry. The north and south doorways are Norman in style (the north doorway is blocked). The chancel is in Early English style and the tower is

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...

. The chancel contains lancet windows and a priest's door. The tower is in three stages, separated by string courses, and has diagonal

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es; its

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

is embattled. The top stage contains a two-light,

louver A louver (American English) or louvre (British English; see spelling differences) is a window blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain and direct sunshine. The angle of the sla ...

ed bell opening on each side.

Interior

The font dates from the 15th century; it is octagonal with a quatrefoil on each side of the bowl. The pulpit was built in the 20th century in

Caen stone Caen stone (french: Pierre de Caen) is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about ...

and stands on stone from an earlier pulpit. The

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

s date from the 19th century. Over the south door is a royal coat of arms from the reign of George III. In the bellchamber are boards recording donations to the church. Behind the altar is a wooden plaque dated 1601 depicting Jesus carrying the cross. Four windows in the chancel contain stained glass by

Heaton, Butler and Bayne Heaton, Butler and Bayne were an English firm who produced stained-glass windows from 1862 to 1953. History Clement Heaton (1824–82) Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. '' London: Allen Lane, p. 371 ...

. In the church are a number of carved stones, and a small sarcophagus from the Saxon era; this is considered to be one of the smallest sarcophagi in England.

External features

In the churchyard are objects listed Grade II. One of these is the limestone base of a cross shaft dating from the

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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

period. The other is a pair of unidentified monuments dated respectively 1777 and 1787. The churchyard also contains the

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regu ...

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 ...

, and an

airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred as a soldier in other definitions. In civilian aviation usage, t ...

and Royal Army Medical Corps officer of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guiting Power, Saint Michael and All Angels Church of England church buildings in Gloucestershire 12th-century church buildings in England Diocese of Gloucester English Gothic architecture in Gloucestershire Grade II* listed churches in Gloucestershire English churches with Norman architecture