St Bartholomew's Church, Richard's Castle

St Bartholomew's Church, Richard's Castle
St Bartholomew's Church, Richard's Castle, from the southeast
St Bartholomew's Church, Richard's Castle Location in Herefordshire
Coordinates: 52°19′42″N 2°45′29″W / 52.3282°N 2.7581°W / 52.3282; -2.7581
OS grid reference	SO 484 702
Location	Richard's Castle, Herefordshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Churches Conservation Trust
History
Dedication	Saint Bartholomew
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	11 June 1959
Architectural type	Church
Style	Norman, Gothic
Groundbreaking	12th century
Completed	15th century
Specifications
Materials	Stone, tile roofs

St Bartholomew's Church, Richard's Castle, is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Richard's Castle, Herefordshire, England (grid reference SO484702). It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building,^[1] and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.^[2] It stands close to the castle of the same name as the village, near to the Wales–England border.^[2] The tower is detached from the main body of the church, and stands about 11 yards (10 m) to its east.^[3]

History

The church dates from the 12th century. It was extended early in the 14th century, and again in the early 15th century, and restored in the late 19th century.^[1] The church was declared redundant on 1 August 1982, and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 30 March 2001.^[4]

Architecture

Exterior

St Bartholomew's is constructed in stone rubble with tile roofs. Its plan consists of a nave and chancel built in the 12th century, a south aisle and a north chapel built in the 14th century, and a south porch of the 15th century. The south aisle is in three bays between which are stepped buttresses. The middle bay contains a pair of lancet windows. In the easternmost of the bays has a two-light window, and in the western bay is the south doorway. The porch is arched, and in each side of it are two-light windows. The west window of the aisle consists of two lancets, and at the east end is a three-light window. The west window of the nave has four lights. On the north wall are two buttresses, and it contains two 12th-century round-headed windows, one of which is partly obscured by a buttress. The chapel has a four-light north window, and three-light windows on the east and west sides. The south wall of the chancel is in three bays. It contains a priest's door, with a two-light window on each side. The east window has four lights, and below it are a two-light mullioned window and the head of a doorway leading to a vault.^[1]

Interior

Inside the church, the south arcade has three bays and the arcade between the chancel and the chapel has two bays. In the south wall of the aisle is a piscina, and against its west wall is a 13th-century coffin lid inscribed with a foliated cross. Under the north window of the chapel is a tomb recess. In the nave and aisle are box pews from the 17th century. Elsewhere in the church are benches, and there is an 18th-century family pew in the chapel under a canopy. There are fragments of 14th-century glass in many of the windows. In the chancel are six hatchments on the walls, and 18th-century memorial slabs on the floor.^[1]

Tower

To the east of the church is a detached tower dating from the 14th century. Some restoration was carried out on it during the 19th century. It has a square plan and is surmounted by a slate pyramidal roof with a weathervane. The tower is in three stages. In the lowest stage is an arched entrance on the west side. There are square-headed windows in the east and south sides in both the lowest and the middle stages. The upper stage contains two-light arched bell openings on the north, south and east sides. The tower has been designated separately as a Grade I listed building.^[3]

See also

• List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in the English Midlands

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Church of St Bartholomew, Richard's Castle", Heritage Gateway website (Heritage Gateway (English Heritage, Institute of Historic Building Conservation and ALGAO:England)), 2006, http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=150143&resourceID=5, retrieved 8 October 2010 
2. ^ ^{a b} St Bartholemew's Church, Richards Castle, Herefordshire, Churches Conservation Trust, http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/St-Bartholemews-Church-Richards-Castle-Herefordshire/, retrieved 29 March 2011 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Tower about 10 metres east of the Church of St Bartholomew, Richard's Castle", Heritage Gateway website (Heritage Gateway (English Heritage, Institute of Historic Building Conservation and ALGAO:England)), 2006, http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=150144&resourceID=5, retrieved 8 October 2010 
4. ^ (PDF) Diocese of Hereford: All Schemes, Church Commissioners/Statistics, Church of England, 2011, p. 4, http://www.churchofengland.org/media/810649/hereford%20-%20all%20schemes.pdf, retrieved 11 April 2011