St Wilfrid's Church, Low Marnham Explained

St Wilfrid's Church, Low Marnham
Imagealt:A stone church seen from the southwest. On the left is the tower with a battlemented parapet and pinnacles, in the centre is the nave, also battlemented, and to the right at a lower level is the chancel
Pushpin Map:Nottinghamshire
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Pushpin Label Position:left
Map Caption:Location in Nottinghamshire
Location:Low Marnham, Nottinghamshire
Country:England
Coordinates:53.2155°N -0.7933°W
Osgraw:SK 806 693
Website:Churches Conservation Trust
Dedication:Saint Wilfrid
Functional Status:Redundant
Heritage Designation:Grade I
Designated Date:1 February 1967
Style:Perpendicular
Groundbreaking:13th century
Materials:Stone, slate roofs

St Wilfrid's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Low Marnham, Nottinghamshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

History

The church dates from the 13th century, with additions or alterations in the 14th, 15th and 19th centuries, and a restoration in 1846.

Architecture

Exterior

St Wilfrid's is constructed in stone with slate roofs. Its plan consists of a nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, a south porch, a north chapel, a chancel and a west tower. From the exterior, the style of the church is Perpendicular. The tower is in two stages, with diagonal buttresses. In the lower stage is a three-light west window, and there are clock faces on the north, west and south sides. The upper stage contains two-light bell openings on each side. At the top of the tower is an embattled parapet with pinnacles at the corners, and two gargoyles. The north wall of the north aisle contains four three-light windows, an arched doorway, and five gargoyles. There is a three-light window in both the west and east walls of this aisle. The north chapel has a similar window. Along both walls of the clerestory are four three-light windows and five gargoyles. At the east end of the chancel is a three-light window and two gargoyles. In the south wall of the chancel is a doorway with a two-light window on each side. On the south side of the south aisle is a porch, with a three-light window to its right and a two-light window to the left. The doorway in the porch has an ogee arch with multiple layers of moulding, at the bottom of which are carved heads. In the west end of the aisle is a single-light window.

Interior

The arcades differ in that the north arcade is carried on low cylindrical pillars with circular capitals, while the south arcade has taller octagonal pillars with detached shafts. In the south wall of the chancel is a tomb recess, and in the south wall of the south aisle is a piscina and an aumbry. The church contains monuments to the Cartwright family. There is a hatchment dated 1749 in the north aisle, and a fragment of 15th-century stained glass.

See also