St Nicholas - Frankton, Warwickshire
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member SMacB
N 52° 19.668 W 001° 22.787
30U E 610410 N 5798733
St Nicholas' church, Frankton.
Waymark Code: WM126DF
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/10/2020
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member pmaupin
Views: 0

"The church of ST. NICHOLAS stands on the west side of a small churchyard, west of the village. It consists of a chancel, nave, south aisle, west tower, vestry, and south porch. The earliest part of the church is the lower stage of the tower, which dates from the early 13th century; the rest of the church was rebuilt in the 14th century, and in the 15th century the upper part of the tower was rebuilt. It is built of small roughly coursed limestone rubble with red sandstone dressings, except for the upper stage of the tower, which is red sandstone ashlar. The roofs are modern.

The east wall of the chancel has been rebuilt in red brick on a stone base with diagonal buttresses and has a modern traceried three-light window with a hoodmould. On the north side a modern vestry has been erected; it has a square-headed doorway and is lighted by a window of two trefoil lights. West of the vestry there is a small restored ogee-headed window. The south side has two small modern buttresses, a modern square-headed doorway, and a small modern trefoil light with an ogee head. High up in the wall there are two square-headed windows of three trefoil lights, of two hollow splays, with hood-moulds, both much restored.

The south aisle has a plinth of one splay and is lighted on the east by a modern three-light traceried window with a hood-mould, the stops left rough for carving; on the south are two windows of three trefoil ogee-headed lights with square heads, but only the jambs are original, and on the west a single light, of which only the ogee head is original. West of the two windows is a modern timber porch. The doorway has a pointed arch of two orders, a wave and sunk splay, continued down the jambs without capitals; a modern hood-mould has been added. The door is oak boarding on plain framing, hung on two iron hinges the full width of the door, and between them two iron straps; all are decorated with zigzag chisel-cuts and have fleur-de-lis terminals; the straps are similar but with fleur-de-lis at both ends. The handle is a twisted ring with a lozenge-shaped back-plate and escutcheon, with their corners filed to fleur-de-lis; probably 15th-century. The north side of the nave is lighted by two windows of two trefoil lights with heads out of one stone; one has a restored head and the other is a modern copy. The parapet is modern, built of ashlar on a moulded string, and at the west end a modern buttress has been added.

The tower rises in two stages, of which the lower is 13th-century and the upper 15th-century. The original tower was no doubt in three stages and when it was rebuilt in the 15th century the second stage was omitted. The lower stage has wide shallow buttresses or pilasters at each angle, a plinth consisting of a large roll-moulding at the top of a wide splay, and narrow pointed lights to the ringing-chamber on the south and west. A modern buttress has been built against the north wall and a modern door inserted in the centre with a cement pointed arch. On the south side two further modern buttresses have been added, a low one in brick and stone to the west and to the east one of three stages carried half-way up the tower. A modern traceried window of two pointed lights with a hood-mould has been inserted in the west wall, probably replacing a lancet. The upper stage has a string-course at its junction with the earlier work, an embattled parapet on a moulded string-course which has carved heads in its hollow, one at each corner with two between, and pinnacles at the angles, with trefoil panels and crocketed finials. The belfry windows on all four faces are set in deep recesses with four-centred arches, the reveals and soffits of the arches panelled with a series of trefoil-headed panels, the windows being two trefoil lights of one splayed order, but on the south face two have been put in, separated by a narrow pier. The roof is a tiled pyramid surmounted by a weather vane.

The chancel (27 ft. by 7 ft. 7 in.) has a modern tiled floor, plastered walls, and two steps to the altar. The east window has a segmental-pointed rear-arch, the others all have flat heads. In the north wall there are two modern aumbries and a door with a square head to the vestry. The roof is modern, but two of the carved corbels supporting the west truss are of 14th-century date.

The nave (43 ft. 2 in. by 15 ft. 9 in.) has a modern tiled floor and plastered walls. The arcade consists of three bays of pointed arches of two splayed orders supported on octagonal pillars with moulded capitals and bases, and half-octagon responds. There are inserted modern clearstory windows on the south only; they are small trefoil two-light windows in wide splayed recesses with flat timber lintels. The other windows have pointed stop-chamfered rear-arches. The tower arch is a modern one of two splays on the tower side and three to the nave, all dying out on the tower walls, and the chancel arch has been restored and partly rebuilt on modern bases. It is pointed, of two splayed orders.

The south aisle (42 ft. 9 in. by 7 ft. 3 in.) has a modern tiled floor and plastered walls. In the south wall near the east end there is a piscina with a restored ogee head and a badly broken basin. The door has splayed jambs and a segmental-pointed rear-arch, the south windows segmental rear-arches, and the window at the west end a flat head. The font is modern and placed at the west end near the door; its circular basin stands on four attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases on a splayed octagonal base.

The tower (11 ft. 8 in. by 11 ft. 4 in.) has a modern tiled floor and the window a widely splayed recess with a pointed arch. On the north wall there is an 18th-century memorial tablet.

The plate includes a silver chalice and cover with hallmark 1763.

Of the four bells one is by Newcombe, 1607, the others by Hugh Watts, 1616, 1623, and 1636.

The registers begin in 1559."

SOURCE - (visit link)
Building Materials: Stone

Visit Instructions:
Logs for Medieval churches waymark must contain a date found and any details about the visit there. Also photos and other experiences related to the building are welcome.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest Medieval Churches
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
There are no logs for this waymark yet.