Titley

72 TITLEY (B.c.)

(O.S. 6 in. X, S.E.)

Titley is a parish 3 m. N.E. of Kington. Titley Court is the principal monument.

Ecclesiastical

(1). Parish Church of St. Peter stands on the N.E. side of the parish. It probably served as the chapel of the alien priory of Titley, a cell of the Abbey of Tiron, the head of a reformed branch of the Benedictine order. The church was entirely re-built in 1868 and contains:—

Fittings—Plate: includes an Elizabethan cup and cover-paten without date-marks, a cup of 1569, with a cover-paten, given in 1871, a flagon of 1712, given by E.H., E.S. in 1714, and an alms-dish of 1712.

Secular

(2). Priory Cottage, immediately N.W. of the church, is of two storeys, timber-framed, and with slate-covered roofs. It was built probably late in the 16th or early in the 17th century, but may represent one of the buildings of the Cell mentioned above. The timber-framing is exposed, as are the ceiling-beams.

Condition—Good.

(3) Eywood, house, over ¾ m. S.W. of the church, is of three storeys with cellars; the walls are of brick with stone dressings, and the roofs are slate-covered. It is said to have been built in 1705 by Edward Harley, brother of the first of the Harleys, Earls of Oxford, and was enlarged and repaired by the fifth Earl. The house was again refronted and altered in 1898. The main building is rectangular on plan with a central court. The elevations have now no ancient features, and it is impossible to say what parts of the building of 1705 survive.

Condition—Good.

(4). Titley Court, 600 yards S. of the church, is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are mainly of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. The S.W. corner of the house appears to be part of an early 17th-century timber-framed building. The house was altered in the 18th century and again more extensively in the 19th century and modern times. The exterior has no ancient features. Inside the building, the fireplace in the hall has an early 17th-century overmantel, made up with old material with some modern work; it is of two stages and two bays divided and flanked by terminal figures; both stages have enriched arcaded panels and are divided by a carved band or frieze; at the top is a second carved band; the overmantel is supported on two turned and carved posts like the posts of a canopied bed. On the opposite side of the hall is a feature made up of similar woodwork, but in place of a fireplace is a panelled centrepiece flanked by carved and fluted balusters; the overmantel is of two stages, the lower of two arcaded bays divided and flanked by terminal figures, two male and one female; the upper stage is of three bays with arabesque panels below and arcaded panels above. In the staircase-hall is a late 16th or early 17th-century overmantel (Plate 52) of two bays divided and flanked by terminal figures; the bays have enriched arched panels filled with figures of scrolled monsters; in the spandrels are winged figures blowing horns; on the frieze are two carved monsters; the shelf is gadrooned, and supporting it are two carved balusters similar to those of the hall fireplace; above the fireplace is a deep frieze carved with scrolls. The Library, on the S. side of the house, has a late 17th-century plaster ceiling (Plate 162) divided into nine panels by heavy moulded and enriched trabeations, the panels have wreaths of bay and oak leaves, except the middle panel, which has a wreath of fruit and flowers; the walls are lined with bolection-moulded panelling of the same date, with cornice and dado-rail. The early 17th-century fireplace came from Upper Mowley, Staunton-on-Arrow; it has heavy carved and turned balusters supporting the shelf and an overmantel of three enriched arcaded bays, divided and flanked by terminal figures; in the panels are the initials and date A.G. 1625; the frieze is carved with dolphins and masks. A room on the first floor is lined with early 18th-century panelling. The late 17th-century staircase (Plate 74), from the first floor to the attics, has turned or twisted balusters, moulded rails and square newels with turned terminals.

Condition—Good.

(5). The Vicarage, 100 yards S. of the church, is of 18th and 19th-century date, but S.W. of it is a timber-framed and two-storeyed outbuilding of the 17th century. It has exposed framing and a roof covered with stone slates.

Condition—Good.

(6). Yew Tree Cottage, 340 yards W.S.W. of the church, is of two storeys, timber-framed, and with slate-covered roofs. It was built late in the 17th or early in the 18th century, and has exposed framing.

Condition—Fairly good.

(7). Oatcroft Farm, house, 1 m. W.S.W. of the church, has been largely re-built but incorporates parts of an early 17th-century building with exposed ceiling-beams.

Condition—Fairly good.

(8). Burnt House, on the N. side of the parish, nearly 1¼ m. N.W. of the church, is of two storeys, stone built, and with a slate-covered roof. It was built in the 17th century and has exposed ceiling-beams.

Condition—Fairly good.

Unclassified

(9). Ring-work, possibly a disc-barrow, 1¼ m. W.N.W. of the church, consists of a circular area, 105 ft. in diameter, surrounded by a very slight bank, with traces of an outer ditch. The bank is 8 ft. wide and rises about 1 ft. above the level of the enclosure.

Condition—Fairly good.

N.B.—For Offa's Dyke, see p. xxx.