St Mary
Lower Swell
Gloucestershire
Parish church, early/mid-C12, altered in the C15 and greatly enlarged in 1852 by J C Buckler and Son
Architectural Features
Late-C19 glass and wall-paintings by Clayton and Bell
MATERIALS: the C12 parts of the church are built in ashlar
The parish church of St Mary, seen here from the footpath, has some notable 12th Century work.
the C15 work is in rubblestone and the C19 parts in rough-faced rubble.
PLAN: the original C12 church, consisting of nave and chancel, now serves as south aisle and chapel to the larger C19 church which projects to east and west.
There is a C15 south porch.
EXTERIOR: the original C12 church, now forming the south parts of the building, consist of the nave (now the south aisle) and slightly narrower chancel (now the south chapel).
There are double-chamfered stringcourses, of C12 date, to west and east ends.
The Norman doorway is at the western end of the former nave: this round-headed opening has two orders with shallow abaci on cushion capitals, the inner order of the arch having a double cable, the outer a roll-moulding on the edge.
Column detail
An inmost order of continuous, chip-carved diapering frames the tympanum – ten stones skilfully wedged together and cut into a flat arch – on which is carved a Tree of Life with a dove pecking at its fruit, apparently unfinished.
The doorway is sheltered by the C15 gabled porch with a hollow-moulded doorway.
To the east of the porch, a late-C15 three-light square-headed window with curvilinear tracery under a hoodmould with hollowed stops, in a deeply-hollowed surround.
The C12 ashlar of the south wall is interrupted in the first bay to the west of the chancel where the C15 aisle
rood screen were removed in the late C17
The former chancel has a corbel-table to the south wall, with some carved heads.
In the south wall of the former chancel, a small round-headed Norman window and a later rectangular 'low-side' window.
next to the window is re-set a small pillar of chip-carving.
The Norman corbel-table is partly reused on the north chancel wall.
two new bells were added to the existing one of 1683.
The stairs to the crypt are to the south, beside the C12 chancel.
The arch rests on three of pairs of nook-shafts, the cushion capitals having primitive figure carving.
The three outer orders of the arch are richly decorated, one with chip-carving, the next with double cable
the outermost order forms a band of twenty-six symbolical carvings, extremely unusual, including human figures and animals, interspersed with patterns.
The arched south window in the former chancel, now the chapel, has rere-arch to the inner angle of the splays, with carved bases and capitals to the shafts.
The roof of the former chancel has a roof of delicate arched braces joined to coupled rafters, possibly medieval.
The floor is laid with Victorian encaustic tiles.
to the north, the wine-glass pulpit is of the same date, also by Howard, with linenfold panels.
The chancel is decorated with a narrative scheme of 1883-4 by Clayton and Bell, in which wall paintings combine with the stained glass to tell the story of the Passion.
there are geometric and encaustic tiles to the floor.
Glass in the church, other than in the chancel, is also by Clayton and Bell, dating between 1866 and 1884, the majority belonging to the 1883-4 phase of work.