Monument Type(s):

• PARISH CHURCH (12th century to 14th century - 1100 AD to 1399 AD)
• SUNDIAL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1901 AD)

Summary

A 12th century church, extensively altered in the 14th century, and restored in the 18th and 19th centuries, St Luke's is believed to be on the site of a Saxon chapel. Protected by Grade I Listing.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events: None recorded

Description

Parish church. C12 south aisle. Remodelled and south aisle chapel, nave, chancel and tower added in C14. Heavily restored and vestry added in 1846, north chapel added in 1870, possibly by Anthony Salvin, and church further restored in 1883. Red and yellow sandstone ashlar with some dressed stone. Plain tile roof, separately over nave and aisle. 5-bay nave and aisle, 2-bay chancel and south chapel, south porch and vestry, chapel to north of chancel and octagonal tower at west end of nave. Restored in a Decorated Gothic style. Tower: 3 stages. Octagonal plan. Chamfered plinth, corner buttresses up to belfry with chamfered offsets, string course to belfry, parapet string with carved gargoyles, battlemented parapet with moulded coping, and weathervane. Belfry openings in alternate faces of 2 louvred trefoiled ogee-headed lights with quatrefoil in tracery and chamfered reveals. Lower stages with rectangular lights to west, north-west and south-west, those to first stage with moulded reveals and those to second stage with chamfered reveals. Low boarded doorway to west. Octagonal wooden clocks on belfry to north-east and south-east. Yellow sandstone memorial tablet fixed to north-east face of tower, inscribed: "HERE LYETH THE BODY OF / SUSANNA WIFE OF / THOMAS GARDNAR OF / SANSAW IN THIS COUNTY GENTLEMAN AND / ELDER DAUGHTER OF ROBERT ARNEWAY / GENTLEMAN AND / ANN HIS WIFE OF / WESTON IN THIS PARISH SHE DECEASED THE 30th / DAY OF OCTOBER AN 1661". South aisle and south chapel: chamfered and moulded plinth, buttresses with chamfered offsets (diagonal at corners), chamfered eaves, and coped parapeted gable ends with moulded kneelers, finial at apex to east and cross at apex to west. 5 + 3 bays. Aisle windows of 2 trefoil-headed lights with quatrefoil tracery; chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds. West window of 4 trefoilheaded lights with flowing Y-tracery, moulded reveals, chamfered cill and returned hoodmould. C19 continuously-chamfered arched south doorway in second bay from left with nail-studded door dated "GB WW 1705" (in nails) and remains of former round-arched C18 doorway above with flush keystone. Porch with double chamfered plinth, flanking flush buttresses and parapeted gable with moulded coping, gabled kneelers and fleur-de-lys finial at apex. Moulded arch of 2 arches, the inner has nook shafts with moulded bases and capitals and the outer is continuous. Hoodmould with carved heads as stops. Pair of boarded doors. Small trefoilheaded side windows with hollow chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds. Side benches inside. Inscribed sundial dated 1673 on wall between fifth and sixth bays. South chapel windows of 3 stepped trefoil-headed lights with chamfered reveals and hoodmould. East window of 5 trefoil-headed lights with flowing Y-tracery, moulded reveals and returned hoodmould. Central vestry to south with chamfered plinth, and parapeted gable with moulded coping and kneelers, and integral stone stack at apex, consisting of stubby octagonal shaft with moulded cap (possibly truncated). Pair of windows to front, each of 2 trefoil-headed lights with hollow-chamfered reveals and returned hoodmoulds. Boarded doorway in left-hand return front with continuously-chamfered arch. Right-hand return front with pair of memorial tablets set in wall; one in memory of Samuel Herrick Macaulay who died at Hodnet Rectory on October 10th 1895, and one in memory of Henry William Macaulay, son of the Rev. S. H. Macaulay, who died at Muang Phray in Siam on May 1st, 1893. Nave and chancel: chamfered plinth, buttresses with chamfered offsets, diagonal to east, and parapeted gable end to east with moulded kneelers and finial at apex. 4 windows to nave, 3 to right of 2 trefoil-headed lights with cusped chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds. Left-hand window of 3 stepped trefoil-headed lights with chamfered reveals and hoodmould. East window of 5 trefoil-headed lights with intersecting tracery and chamfered reveals. North (Heber) chapel: chamfered plinth, angle buttresses with chamfered offsets, and coped parapeted gables with gabled kneelers. Pair of cinquefoil-headed lancets to north with hollow-chamfered reveals and hoodmoulds with carved stops. East window of 4 cinquefoil-headed lights with flowing tracery, hollow chamfered reveals and hoodmould with carved stops. Interior: C14 and C19 five-bay nave arcade consisting of alternating circular and octagonal piers with chamfered bases and capitals, and recessed chamfered arches. Tall tower arch of 6 orders with continuous sunk chamfers and wave mouldings. Reused probably C17 panelling in tympanum above C19 doors. Pair of chamfered-arched vestry doorways. Arched doorway between chancel and south aisle chapel. Chamfered rear arches, south aisle windows with remains of former C12 and C18 round arches in wall above. Segmental-arched piscina or aumbry in south-west wall of south aisle. C19 nave and aisle roofs with arched-braced collars springing from stone corbels and chancel and south aisle chapel roofs with hammer and tie-beams. Pairs of moulded purlins, sub-divided into square panels and carved heraldic bosses. North (Heber) chapel with double-chamfered arch, the outer chamfer continuous and the inner springing from circular half-piers with moulded bases and capitals; hoodmould with carved stops. Chapel with moulded cill string, moulded cornice, chamfered rear arches, and trussed-rafter roof; east window has nook shafts with moulded bases and capitals. Fittings: chancel has reused C17 dado panelling with carved lozenges and arches etc. Altar with raised and fielded panelling. Commandment boards flanking east window with Ionic pilasters and round arches with carved spandrels. Brass communion rails. Probably C18 hexagonal wooden pulpit with bolection-moulded panels, moulded cornice and C19 chamfered stone base. Brass eagle lectern. Plain choir stalls. C17 or C17-style communion table with bulbous legs in south aisle chapel. Organ in south aisle chapel. Plain pews incorporating some old material; frontals with traceried panels and poppyheads. C17 stone font with circular step, circular stem and octagonal lead-lined bowl with carved panels, depicting a cock, eagle, lion etc. and continuous carved band below. Pair of C17 parish chests, one with lozenge panels and one plain with 3 locks and moulded top. Poor box adjacent to south door, with 3 locks and inscribed "REMEMBER THE POORE". Encaustic tiles to chancel, south chapel and Heber chapel. Small chained library. Stained glass: east window of 1846, in memory of Mary Heber, d. Dec. 22, 1846. South aisle chapel east window by David Evans, depicting Mark, Luke and John. South-east window of south aisle chapel dated 1852. Glass in Heber chapel dated 1901, 1902 and 1911. Monuments: Hugh Pigot of Peplow, d. 1697 (aisle, s. wall). Cartouche with scrolled surround and shield and crest above. Richard Hill of Hawkstone, d. 1726 (aisle, w. wall). Large obelisk resting on globes with flanking wreathed urns on base and cartouche with arms at top. Henrietta Vernon, d. 1752 (nave, n. wall). Wreathed urn on a pedestal against an obelisk, flanking urns, cartouche with shield and base with 3 winged angels. Attributed to Sir Henry Cheere. Sir Rowland Hill (1705-83), erected by his son Sir Richard Hill (nave, n. wall). Large swagged urn against an obelisk and cartouche on pedestal. Sir Richard Hill of Hawkstone, d. 1808 (aisle, s. wall). Urn and sarcophagus against the background of an obelisk. Signed by John Carline. John Hill, d. 1814 (nave, n. wall). Mourning mother and child in front of sarcophagus, obelisk with shield above. By John Carline. Bishop Heber, d. 1826 (in Heber chapel). Portrait head in profile against draped background. By Chantrey. Inscription by Robert Southey. Richard Heber, d. 1833 (Chancel). Elaborate Gothic monument with central crocketed ogee arch and traceried side panels. Blanche Emily Heber, d. 1870 (Heber chapel). Chest tomb consisting of gadrooned sarcophagus with fluted square corner piers and recumbent effigy. By Reginald Cholmondeley of Condover. Pair of old photographs of the interior of the church before 1883 showing the aisle with box pews and a central pulpit against the south wall. Reginald Heber was Bishop of Calcutta from 1823 until his death in 1826, and the writer of many hymns including "From Greenland's Icy Mountains" and others. D. H. S. Cranage, An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire, Part 8, pp691-96; Buildings of England, pp150-2; Church guide <2>

The church is thought to occupy the site of an earlier chapel which lay within Edward the Confessor's Saxon royal manor of Odenet <3>

Detailed description. <8>

The photograph of the Church was taken on the 12th July 2009 and that of the Sundial 7th April 2015. <9>

Photograph of church from NE and reproduction of Edw Williams watercolour c.1790. Photograph of tower. <10>

Shropshire Archives hold a watercolour of 12th Century Church of Saint Luke, Hodnet (Reference 6001/372/2/62), by Reverend Edward Williams, dated to 1790. A small-scale thumbnail can be found via their online catalogue: https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCA_X6001_19_372B_62 <11>

A complex building of confused periods, on the site of a Saxon church, reconstructed in the 14th and much restored in the 18th and 19th centuries. There are Norman remains and a 14th century octagonal tower. The windows in the Decorated style date from 1846. The church is still in use for religious services. <12>

Sources

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