HER 3198 DESCRIPTION:-

Listed Building description:

SOUTHROP SOUTHROP VILLAGE SP 1903-2003 14/217 Church of St Peter GV I 26/01/61

Parish church. Early C12, C13 chancel and early C14 transept. Restored in 1852; again in 1895. Random rubble limestone with considerable areas of herringbone work; stone slate roof. Nave with north porch, south transept and chancel. C12 round arched north doorway with 2 orders of roll moulding and billetted hoodmould has tympanum with incised diaper pattern; jamb shafts have volute capitals and moulded bases; plank and cover strip door. Double chamfered pointed arch to parapet gabled north porch; trefoil headed image niche above arch. Two windows to nave on north and south sides: one on each being original C12 with deep splays internally; others are 2-light C19 neo-Norman, that on south wall replacing a much larger window of some earlier date. Early English pointed south doorway with plank door. West end of nave rebuilt at several periods; large Perpendicular 3-light window with Rectilinear tracery has line of low-pitched gable end above, part of moulded verge still in situ. Two small lights above were formerly bellcote, totally engulfed in late C19 rebuilding providing new higher bellcote above. Early C14 transept has ogee tracery to south single-light; 2-light in square-headed opening with ogee tracery on east side. Continuous sill-level string course to C13 chancel with 2 east lancets having small quatrefoil centrally above. Three lancets to north and south sides of chancel, one to south with shouldered arched recess below. Shouldered arched priest's doorway on south side.

Interior: plain and limewashed, the pure Norman line of nave being interrupted by large round transept arch. C19 hammerbeam roof. Plain C12 round chancel arch with carved imposts; small flanking squints are reset. Small opening at high level above chancel arch with quatrefoil pierced ceiling was aumbry for use with rood loft. Chancel is well articulated by C13 splays to lancets, all with rere-arches. Continuous sill-level string course. C19 hammerbeam chancel roof. Two piscinae on south chancel wall: Early English pillar type and later with moulded trefoil head. Three aumbries on north wall. Two chancel effigies are Sir Thomas Conway and his wife Elizabeth, moved from transept in C19. Scrolled pediment to memorial tablet on south chancel wall with painted inscription: 'THOMAS KEBLA: SEN . GEN: DECESED ANNODMI: 1670'. Moulded mortuary recess on north wall has plain chest - no inscriptions. Memorial to right of chancel arch with Ionic pilasters and broken pediment to Edmond, Son of Thomas Keble, died 1654. Late C19 stone choir screen and curved pulpit front. C12 circular font is very important with well-preserved arcading and figures in relief. Dating from c1180 it was discovered by John Keble during his period as curate here in 1823-5. For full description see David Verey's books. Stained glass in upper east window by Thomas Willement, 1852. This church is important for the extent of surviving Norman work, the font, and its link with John Keble, one of the instigators of the Oxford Movement. (N.M. Herbert, 'Southrop' in V.C.H. Glos. vii, 1981, pp. 129-136; D. Verey, Cotswold Churches, 1976 and Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds, 1979). Listing NGR: SP 20215 03418. {Source Work 2389.}

Built c1100. Plain Norman S doorway and chancel arch of this date. Chancel entirely rebuilt in 13C. Church restored 1852-5. {Source Work 290.}

In the churchyard is a headstone dated to 1940 and dedicated to Claudia Richardson, it was designed by Norman Jewson {Source Work 5411.}

Norman Jewson (1884 - 1975) came from a family of timber merchants in Norwich. After studying at Gonville and Caius College Cambridge he worked at the architectural practise of Herbert Ibberson in London. Jewson was an accomplished watercolourist and after finishing his apprenticeship in 1907 he went on a sketching tour of the Cotswolds. Ibberson had recommended that Jewson visited Ernest Gimson in Sapperton and Gimson took him on as an ‘improver’. As part of his training he was encouraged to draw a different wildflower everyday and adapt it to form a pattern suitable for plasterwork, wood carving or needlework. In 1911 Jewson married and converted a group of cottages at Bachelor’s Court in Sapperton for himself. He set up his own practise in 1919 and quickly gained a reputation for the sympathetic conversion and adaptation of old buildings. He was a member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and he wanted his buildings to have the basic qualities of the best old houses, built in the traditional way with local materials. Jewson’s buildings worked in a vernacular classicism with characteristically fine plasterwork. His work also included fine metal work and gates and detailed architectural lead work and wood carving. He also designed and made furniture. {Source Work 10673

1899 - The church was visited by members of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society as part of their Annual Meeting. Notes from the visit and an illustration of the font can be found in Volume XXII of the Society's Transactions. {Source Work 2752.}

2020 - This monument was previously recorded within the Historic England National Record of the Historic Environment. That record, formerly held within the AMIE database, is quoted below:

UID: 332256, NMR Number: SP 20 SW 29

“ Summary description:Parish church. Early 12th century herringbone work, 13th century chancel and early 14th century transept. Restored in 1852; again in 1895. Random rubble limestone with considerable areas of herringbone work; stone slate roof. Nave with north porch, south transept and chancel.

Full description: SP 2021 0342) St. Peter's Church (C of E) (NAT) (1) SOUTHROP A Church of St.Peter Parish Church. Saxon. Herring-bone masonry. Nave 1086. N. and S. doorways. Norman. Very fine and well-preserved carved Norman font. (2) ” {Quoted from Source Work 4249.}