Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
church in
Bishop's Frome
Bishop's Frome (or Bishops Frome) is a village and civil parish in eastern Herefordshire, England. The village is north-east of the city and county town of Hereford, west of Malvern and south of Bromyard. The civil parish includes the hamle ...
, in
Herefordshire
Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
, England, and in the
Diocese of Hereford
The Diocese of Hereford is a Church of England diocese based in Hereford, covering Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes within Worcestershire in England, and a few parishes within Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales. The cathedral i ...
."More information" Bishop's Frome: St Mary the Virgin. ''A church near you''. Retrieved 23 February 2024. The earliest parts date from the 12th century; restoration in the 19th century includes neo-Norman features. It is
Grade II* listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
.
History and description
The church is built of local sandstone. There is a
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
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
, narrower than the nave; a tower and a south porch. The earliest remaining parts, from the 12th century, are the chancel arch, which is semicircular and has two
orders
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* H ...
, the inner with chevron ornamentation; and the south doorway, which has a rounded arch of three orders. The nave, longer than the north aisle, was probably lengthened before the tower was built. The tower dates from the 14th century, and its height was augmented in the 15th century; it has three stages and an
embattled
A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...
neo-Norman
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...
arches supported on pairs of columns with early-Gothic
capitals
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
.
Interior features
In the south wall of the nave there is a recess with a
segmental arch
A segmental arch is a type of arch with a circular arc of less than 180 degrees. It is sometimes also called a scheme arch.
The segmental arch is one of the strongest arches because it is able to resist Arch#Basic concepts, thrust. To prevent fai ...
and
ball flower
A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but sometimes ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simp ...
ornaments; it contains an effigy of a knight in a suit of
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
, with crossed legs, holding a sword and shield, his feet resting on a lion. It dates from the 14th century. The font, of the 12th century, has a bowl in diameter, on a 19th-century stem and base. The
, incorporating 16th-century work, has a central doorway and two side bays, with delicate tracery. The north chapel has a 16th-century screen and an 18th-century communion rail, brought from the former Munderfield chapel in 1980.