Eyton

25 EYTON (D.c.)

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)XII, N.W., ^(b)XII, S.W.)

Eyton is a parish on the N. of the river Lugg, 2 m. N.W. of Leominster. Eyton Court and The Marsh are the principal monuments.

Ecclesiastical

^a(1). Parish Church of All Saints, formerly a chapel of Eye, stands in the middle of the parish. The walls are of local sandstone rubble with dressings of the same material; the roofs are tiled. Owing to restoration there is little evidence of the date of the building, but if the modern work copies the old the Chancel and Nave would appear to date from the 12th century and to have been altered and lengthened towards the W. in the 14th century. The South Porch was added probably in the first half of the 17th century. The church was drastically restored in 1853 and the North Vestry is modern.

Among the fittings the rood-screen and loft are noteworthy.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (16¼ ft. by 17½ ft.) has no ancient features, but the E. window is of 14th-century character, and the windows in the N. and S. walls are of 12th and 14th-century character respectively. There is no chancel-arch.

The Nave (42¾ ft. by 17½ ft.) has also no ancient features except perhaps some stones in the N.E. and S.E. windows and in the splays of the S. doorway. The windows generally are of 14th-century character. On the W. gable is a restored bell-cote.

The South Porch is timber-framed and of early 17th-century date. The outer entrance has a plain tie-beam and two ornamental struts above; the sides are each of two bays with a two-light opening in each bay.

The Roof of the chancel and nave is of late 15 th or early 16th-century date and of four bays; the main trusses have moulded tie-beams and collars with curved braces; the subsidiary trusses are similar but without tie-beams; the wall-plates are moulded and embattled. The chancel has foiled wind-braces forming quatrefoils. Some of the work appears to be modern.

Fittings—Bell: by W. B. 1684. Floor-slab: In chancel—to John Scandrett, 1680–1. Font: octagonal bowl with splayed underside, plain stem and chamfered base, probably mediæval but partly retooled. Plate: includes a cup and cover-paten of 1588 and a porringer (Plate 59) of 1697. Screen (Plate 107): Between chancel and nave—of oak, with central doorway and five bays on each side, doorway with four-centred head and traceried spandrels, side-bays with close lower and open upper panels, the latter with trefoiled ogee and traceried heads and foliated cusp-points; moulded cornice and coved loft with moulded front beam carved with two bands of foliage, the lower running vineornament; below beam, remains of pendant brattishing of fleurs-de-lis; cove, boarded and panelled with moulded ribs and carved foliage-bosses at the intersections, late 15 th-century.

Condition—Good, much restored.

Secular

^b(2). Eyton Court (Plate 108), 150 yards S.W. of the church, is of two storeys, timber-framed, and with roofs of stone slates. The surviving W. cross-wing of the original house was built early in the 16th century, the adjoining block on the site of the Hall having been re-built in modern brick.

The W. wing is a well-preserved example of early 16th-century timber-framing.

The W. side and N. and S. ends of the old wing have original close-set timber-framing except in the upper storey of the S. end, where the square framing is of later date. The upper storey projects on the W. and S. sides on moulded bressummers with curved brackets and attached shafts with moulded capitals. The framing of the two gables is set herring-bone fashion and the gables project on curved brackets; the bressummer of the S. gable is moulded. In the N. end are two original windows of six and seven lights respectively with moulded mullions and projecting on moulded sills. On the W. side are two similar windows each of five lights. There is another original window of seven lights in the S. end.

Inside the building, the southern room on the ground floor has original moulded ceiling-beams forming twelve main panels and sub-divided by moulded joists; the original fireplace has moulded stone jambs and flat four-centred arch; above it is some 17th-century panelling. The N. room has chamfered ceiling-beams. On the first floor, the S. room has an original boarded ceiling (Plate 109), divided by main moulded ribs into twelve panels and sub-divided by smaller ribs; at the intersections are carved bosses, mostly with flowers and foliage but some with blank shields; the fireplace has stone jambs and an oak lintel. The N. room has a chamfered beam. Four doorways have flat arched lintels and one door is of 17th-century panelling.

Condition—Fairly good.

^b(3). The Marsh, house, 200 yards S. of the church, is partly of two storeys with attics and partly of one storey, timber-framed; the roofs are covered with tiles and corrugated iron. The house is of T-shaped plan with the cross-wing at the W. end. The main block formed the Hall of a late 14th or early 15th-century house, but incorporated in the W. wall is a low gabled truss which is unconnected either with the Hall or the existing cross-wing and must be presumed to be earlier than the Hall. The cross-wing was re-built and heightened probably in the 16th century. The Hall was divided into two storeys, but the inserted floor has now been removed. The wide-set timber-framing is exposed in most of the building. The Hall (25 ft. by 21 ft.) is of four bays; the central truss (Plate 38) has a collar and struts forming three-foiled openings with the principals; the W. truss has a collar with curved braces and the E. truss is similar but has a tie-beam in addition with indications of former framing below it, perhaps part of the later arrangement of the building in two storeys; the wind-braces are foiled. In the W. wall is the ogee head of a doorway cut in the tie-beam of the early truss mentioned above. The W. wing has chamfered ceiling-beams, and the roof has curved wind-braces.

Condition—Good.

Monuments (4–16)

The following monuments, unless otherwise described, are of the 17th century and of two storeys, timber-framed, and with tile or slate-covered roofs. Many of the buildings have exposed external timber-framing and internal ceiling-beams.

Condition—Good or fairly good.

^a(4). Eyton House, 30 yards N.E. of the church, is of three storeys. Originally a timber-framed building, it has been heightened and entirely recased in red brick.

^a(5). Pound Cottage, 80 yards E. of the church, has a later extension on the W.

^a(6). Outbuilding, at The Hill, 350 yards N.E. of the church, has a lower storey of stone.

^a(7). Cottage, at The Barns, 650 yards N. of (6).

^a(8). Cottage, 700 yards N.W. of (7), has a thatched roof.

^a(9). Cottage, at Oaker Farm, nearly 1 m. N.N.W. of the church, has a thatched roof.

^a(10). Cottage, 300 yards N.E. of (9), has a thatched roof.

^a(11). The Old Hall, 670 yards W. of the church, has a later extension at the W. end. On the S. side are two gabled dormers.

^a(12). Cottage, 250 yards W. of (11), has later extensions on the E. and W. The roofs are partly thatched.

^b(13). Cottage, on the S. side of the road, 450 yards S.S.E. of the church, has a thatched roof.

^b(14). Cottage, 100 yards E. of (13), has a thatched roof.

^b(15). Coxall, house, ½ m. S.S.E. of the church, was originally of L-shaped plan with the wings extending towards the E. and S. An addition has been made in the angle, the house heightened, and the front and back refaced.

^b(16). Crowards Mill, house, two tenements, and mill, ½ m. S.E. of (15). The Mill is later than the house, and there are modern additions on the E. side. The lower walls of the mill are of stone.