St Bartholomew's church - Longnor, Staffordshire, UK
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SMacB
N 53° 10.914 W 001° 52.140
30U E 575580 N 5893103
The Church of St Bartholomew is a Grade II* listed church in the village of Longnor, north-east Staffordshire. It was built in the late 18th century.
Waymark Code: WM16RAJ
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/23/2022
Views: 0
"The present church of ST. BARTHOLOMEW, a dedication probably in use by 1631, dates from the later 1770s. Only the plan of its predecessor is known. It was apparently a long, narrow building with a nave and a chancel, and in the later 18th century the pulpit and reading desk stood against the north wall of the nave. Between 1774 and 1781 the church was demolished and a new one built on a site to the north. Of coursed ashlar, it is a rectangular building of five bays with a west tower; there is a Venetian east window. An upper arcade of windows was added to light west and south galleries inserted in 1812, and it was probably then that the tower was heightened. Formerly there was a door half way along the south side of the nave, but it was blocked up in 1897. The west gallery is approached by an external staircase on the north side of the tower. In 1857 the pulpit and reading desk were separated, the pulpit being placed on the south side of the communion table and the desk on the north side. The organ, installed in the south gallery in 1852, was moved in 1864 to the west gallery, possibly after the dismantling of the south gallery, which no longer exists. The organ was later placed on the south side of the chancel. A false ceiling was inserted c. 1949, making the upper windows blind.
The present Norman font was in the churchyard in 1830, when the archdeacon ordered it to be put back into the church; he had to repeat the order in 1837. In 1857 the font stood at the west end of the nave. There was a single bell in 1553. A bell of 1745 was replaced by a new one in 1947. The plate in 1553 comprised a silver gilt chalice with paten. There was also a wooden cross. The present plate includes a silver chalice of c. 1675, a silver paten of 1715, and a flagon and plate bought in 1791–2. Royal arms of the 18th century hang on the front of the west gallery. Boards of 1793 with the text of the Commandments and the Lord's Prayer hang at the west end of the nave, along with a benefaction board which dates probably from the 1790s.
The registers date from 1691. In the later 19th century there was also a register dating apparently from c. 1600.
Stone gateposts dated 1833 were part of a general improvement of the churchyard undertaken by the curate, William Buckwell. It was closed for burials in 1888 and ½ a. north of the church was consecrated instead in 1891. An extension of 2/5 a. was consecrated in 1934."
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