St Michael - Budbrooke, Warwickshire
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member SMacB
N 52° 17.259 W 001° 37.355
30U E 593950 N 5793926
12th century church of St Michael, Budbrooke.
Waymark Code: WMVKJT
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/30/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Dorcadion Team
Views: 0

"St Michael's was originally built in the 12th Century (c. 1122).

It served the local village of Budebroc, which was situated to the north and east of the church building, and surrounding farms.

In 1542 the village was wiped out by the Black Death.

By the mid-17th Century the building was in a rather poor state.

The steeple had collapsed and the south aisle "much decayed".

[Although the south aisle no longer exists, the arches which linked it to the church are still visible - one over the entrance to the south transept and two built into the south wall of the nave.]

It was in the Victorian era that the last major structural changes took place and the north and south transepts were built.

In 1877, the barracks for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was created on the site of what is now Hampton Magna and St. Michael's became the battalion church.

Largely on account of the Norman Arch in the Church building was classified as having a grade II listing.

In 1975 the Garden of Remembrance was developed and opened for the interment of ashes.

In 1983 the Churchyard was closed to burials.

In 1988 the tower was comprehensively refurbished and the bells re-hung, but only for "swing chiming", due to structural restrictions.

In 1992 the Church Centre was built. It was opened jointly by Mr and Mrs Harold Richardson, and the Bishop of Coventry (Rt. Revd.Simon Barrington-Ward).

In 1995, during damp-proofing works to the walls, a large portion of the floor and a number of the pitch-pine pews were found to be rotted, as a result of which the floor was concreted and the pews replaced with padded chairs.

In 1996, all of the leaded-light windows were re-leaded.

12th to 19th Century - an overview

St Michael's Church, Budbrooke, is built from grey Arden sandstone and was probably built on the site of a previous church. The church consists of a chancel, nave, two narrow transepts, a west tower and a 'modern' brick-built porch.

The oldest parts date back to the 12th century - as shown by the Norman doorway in the north wall of the nave. The external walls are heavily buttressed and tapered in cross-section.

The south wall shows signs of an earlier south aisle, which was built in the 13th century and later destroyed (see below).

The chancel was rebuilt in the 13th century and the east wall was again rebuilt in the early part of the 14th century - most of the east window is also 14th century.

The west tower was probably also built in the 13th century.

Entry to the church is through a single pair of nail studded oak doors, erected in 1668.

By the mid-17th Century the building was in a rather poor state. The steeple had collapsed and the south aisle "much decayed".

It was in the Victorian era that the last major structural changes took place and the current north and south transepts were built.

Works covered by a faculty in 1874 included removal of a medieval minstrel gallery at the west end of the nave, replacing the flooring and pews in the nave and chancel (and raising the general floor level), raising the chancel and transept arches, replacing the chancel roof and decaying timbers transforming the south transept into an organ chamber and vestry, opening out the tower archway to form the lower part into a Baptistry, providing new choir seats, prayer desks and pulpit.

The siting of the organ in the south transept didn't last long, because in 1882 the parishioners were invited to subscribe towards removal of the organ to its present position on the north side of the chancel."

SOURCE - (visit link)
Building Materials: Stone

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