The church of St. Leonard at Aston le Walls is mostly early C14. The base of the tower is C12/C13, as are the two south aisle windows to the right of the porch which are also early C13. The porch itself is C14 and was restored along with the rest of the church in 1870 and 1881/2 by J.M. Townsend.
The north wall of the chancel contains an C14 stone effigy of a priest, which is thought to be John de Ardele who was the priest of this church in 1348. There is also a Tudor style brass monument dedicated to Alban Butler (d1609) on the north wall.
The square stone font is Romanesque and carved with a knot pattern and the Tree of Life.
At the est of the north aisle is an inscribed tablet of white marble with black Ionic half columns, and bust on top, dedicated to Elizabeth Orme (d1692).
Tags: brass, effigy, font, medieval, monument, romanesque, tower
Early C14 in the Perpendicular style also with Perpendicular C14 tower and a Decorated style C15 North chapel. The building is made of coursed ironstone and ironstone ashlar.
The east window is an unusual composition featuring the Annunciation and Crucifixion by Burlison & Grylls of London. Two of the windows in the South aisle “Faith Hope & Charity” and “Jesus walking on the Water” are probably by Heaton Butler & Bayne.
In the north chapel is a brass monument to Thomas Wylmer (d1580). This is a standing monument with Ionic columns, metope frieze framing brass plate with kneeling figures.
The west wall of the nave has a large grotesque carving of head with tongue sticking out c1300. Corbel heads from the same period are on the columns of the south aisle bays.
Tags: brass, burlison grylls, elizabethan, heaton butler baynes, mary, monument, stained glass, tower
Largely rebuilt in 1896 by the architect Bassett Smith in C14 style. Holy Trinity retains some features from C13 particularly the door and bay arches in the south aisle. The tower is C15 and built from Lias Limestone.
A large part of the manor of Churchover was owned by Kennilworth Priory the rents amounting to £4 12s 8d at the time of the Dissolution which was sold to William Dixwell. Other parcels of land were once part of the Combe Abbey estate and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries these reverted to the Duchess of Richmond who then sold the land to the tenant William Dixwell.
The west wall of the south aisle has a large monument to Robert Price (d1595) his wife (Mary), and her parents (Humphrey and Ann Dixwell). The two couples are kneeling and facing each other with their children underneath.
In a similar style to the earlier monument in the south aisle, this monumnet in the north aisle is dedicated to monument to Charles Dixwell (d1591) and his wife Abigail (d1635) and their four children William. Edgar, Humphrey, Basil, and Barbara. The style is very similar to the moment in the north aisle dedicated to Robert Price. It also consists of a couple kneeling, with their children below.
One family member John Dixwell the younger son of Edward (Edgar?) Dixwell, was raised by his uncle Basil Dixwell of Brome Kent. John became a lawyer and joined the Kent county committee and was a captain in the Kent militia. In 1646 he was elected to the Long Parliament as MP for Dover. In 1649 he was one of the 59 signatories of King Charles’s Death Warrant. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy, John Dixwell, fled to New Haven Conneticut where he lived under the name of James Davids.
The font is C12 an inverted cone with roll-moulding on the bottom edge, the cover is Jacobean and dated 1675. The east window is dated 1918 by Arild Rosenkrantz.
Tags: font, monument, stained glass, tower
All Saints parish church Norton has a C13 tower, the rest of the church is mostly in the Decorative style of C14.
The font near the entrance is C13 with recut protruding faces.
The stained glass in the north and south aisle windows contain shields and single figures of the St. Edmund, St. Stephen, St. David, St. Patrick, and St. Andrew of unknown the date and maker. However, the east window in the chancel is dated 1847 and signed by Thomas Willement known as “the Father of Victorian Stained Glass”.
The north aisle contains a rustic monument to Elizabeth Verney (d1633) of a kneeling figure. The south aisle has a large alabaster memorial to Elizabeth Knightley (d1602).
The chancel contains two C17 monuments to memebers of the Breton family. A large pink and white marble monument to Nicholas Breton (d1658) and his wife, and a wall tablet to Nicholas Breton (d1624). On the north wall of the chancel is a monument by William Behnes dedicated to Charlotte Botfield. The life size sculpture is that of her son mourning his mother.
Outside on the south wall of the church is a painted sundial and an early medieval mass dial, a crude form of sundial used to determine when to ring the bells for mass, scratch into the stonework.
Tags: alabaster, font, mass dial, monument, scratch dial, sculpture, stained glass, sundial, tomb, tower, willement, william behnes
Comments Off on Norton – All Saints
13th century parish church in the Perpendicular Gothic style.
The sedilia to south of chancel has nodding ogee arches, and was retained from earlier times when the chancel was remodeled in the C19. The alabaster effigy on the low tomb chest is decorated with quatrefoils in the perpendicular style. Its the monument to John Dycson, rector from 1439 to 1445.
The bench ends are probably C15 with Gothic tracery.
Perpendicular style decoration around north chancel window.
Tags: effigy, monument, perpendicular, sedilla, stained glass, tomb, tower
