Architectural Features
Mid-C13 remodelling.
MATERIALS: Local Binstead stone with tile and slate roofs PLAN: Nave with W organ gallery
E elevation: mid C13 3-light E window and further herringbone masonry.
Medieval bell from Quarr Abbey.
INTERIOR: Nave: mid C20 oak hammer beam roof supported on carved stone corbels, some mid C20 replacements.
Chancel: Ribbed panelled ceiling, probably by Hellyer, with replacement bosses Medieval piscina in window ledge south of altar.
Deep internal splay and blind trefoil to SW square-headed medieval window.
Stone slab, tile and parquet flooring.
Carved lectern to rector's chair with Moses tableau of mid C19 date.
Brass wall mounted memorial plaque to The Fallen of the parish in the First World War erected May 1921, which unusually includes a woman, Mary Gartside-Tipping, killed in France in 1917 while serving with the Women's Emergency Corps, and awarded the Croix de Guerre.
Stone octagonal font of 1844 designed by the Hon Henry Graves.
Stained glass: some Victorian glazing.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Churchyard gate to the SE of the church incorporating Norman order mouldings from former N door.
Above the arch, a stone figure with enlarged head and exaggerated ears, sits astride a beast's head.
HISTORY: Permission to quarry Quarr stone at Binstead for Winchester Cathedral was granted shortly after the Norman Conquest and it has been suggested that Holy Cross was constructed as a church for the quarrymen in c1150.
At the turn of the century the church retained its elaborate Victorian belfry which is shown on a photograph in the National Monuments Record of c1900.
The figure is known locally as 'The Idol' and identified in some quarters as a Sheela-na-gig (a female figure associated with fertility and protection) although a drawing of 1819 (National Monuments Record), allowing us to see greater detail than at present, suggests this might not be the case.
Sources B Gorley, Guide to the Parish Church of the Holy Cross, Binstead David W Lloyd & Nikolaus Pevsner,'The Isle of Wight' , 84-86 Memorials and monuments on the Isle of Wight: Binstead Holy Cross at www.isle-of-wight-memorials.org.uk/churches/binsteadholycross.htm [accessed 17 Aug 2010] British History on-line entry for Binstead at www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42064 [accessed 17 Aug 2010] Hellyer's plans of 1843-5 at www.churchplansonline.org Reasons for Designation Church of the Holy Cross, Binstead, of late C11 origins with Victorian additions, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Architecture: for its early chancel with Norman herringbone masonry, mid C13 windows and mass dial, and mostly Victorian structure. * Group value: with churchyard gate incorporating Norman fabric.
SZ5792 : Holy Cross, Binstead: memorial (j)