Bell Tower - St Bartholomew - Benthall, Shropshire
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SMacB
N 52° 37.186 W 002° 30.419
30U E 533376 N 5830087
Small bell tower on the preserved Restoration period church of St Bartholomew, Benthall.
Waymark Code: WM10RXY
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/18/2019
Views: 2
Small bell tower on the preserved Restoration period church of St Bartholomew, Benthall.
"Before the Reformation there was land endowing the celebration of Our Lady's service in the chapel. Baptisms and marriages in the chapel became more frequent from the 1570s, perhaps as the mining population increased, but in the later 16th and the 17th century it may have been poorly furnished: in 1552 there had been one little bell and a poor chasuble, and the chalice used belonged to William Benthall. Impiety was said to be 'too much used' in 1716; the minister of Much Wenlock then came to conduct a Sunday afternoon service once a month with communion three or more times a year. On Census Sunday 1851 morning service was attended by 70 adults and 30 children, afternoon service by 110 and 30 respectively.
The medieval chapel was dedicated to ST. BRICE, bishop of Tours (d. 444). It was 'burnt down to the ground', probably in 1645, and 'wholly demolished'; afterwards no warden was appointed until the building of a new church was undertaken. A new church of ST. BARTHOLOMEW, so known by c. 1740, was built in or soon after 1667 probably on the medieval chapel's foundations. Consisting of chancel and nave with a west bell turret, it had a hammer-beam roof with carved decoration. There are some medieval floor tiles which, with pews, panelling, and furnishings that are mostly early 17th-century, were perhaps salvaged from the old chapel. In 1673 the lord of the manor owned several seats in the chancel, and it was probably late in the 17th century that the west gallery was added. The font may be of c. 1670 and the bell is of 1671."
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