Adstock

104. ADSTOCK.

(O.S. 6 in. xviii. N.E.)

Ecclesiastical

(1). Parish Church of St. Cecilia, stands on the W. side of the village, and is built of limestone rubble, that of the chancel and porch being very regular, coursed and squared; the tower is faced with rough ashlar. The roofs are covered with tiles and with lead. The lower part of the walls of the Nave is of the 12th century; the Chancel was re-built and the South Porch added in the second quarter of the 14th century. Towards the end of the 15th century the upper part of the walls of the nave was re-built and the West Tower added. In 1597–1599 the church was re-roofed. In the 19th century the whole building was restored.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (25½ ft. by 15 ft.) is of the 14th century, where not restored. The E. window, much restored, is of three trefoiled lights with modern tracery in a two-centred head under a chamfered external label which has headstops. In the N. wall are two windows, also much restored, each of two trefoiled lights with tracery in a two-centred head; the western is a low-side window, the transom, with the jambs and mullion below it, being cut flat for shutters; the iron staple of the shutters still remains: between the windows is a small doorway with chamfered jambs and two-centred head, now blocked. In the S. wall are two windows similar to those in the N. wall, but the eastern is almost entirely modern. The two-centred chancel arch is of one order on the E. side, and of three orders on the W. side, all chamfered; the innermost order is carried on modern foliated corbels with 14th-century moulded capitals; the jambs are modern. The Nave (38½ ft. by 21½ ft.) has an external offset at the level of the windowsills, and below it the wall is of the 12th century, 3 ft. thick, and of fairly large stones, roughly coursed and squared; the 15th-century walling, above the offset, is of stones of somewhat irregular size. The windows, two in the N. wall and two in the S. wall, are of late 15th-century date and each of three cinque-foiled lights with a transom and tracery under a two-centred head; the internal and external reveals are moulded and of nearly equal depth. Between the N. windows is the 12th-century N. doorway, now blocked; the chamfered jambs have moulded imposts; the head, formed from a single stone, was originally a semi-circular tympanum ornamented with an incised design, but the soffit was cut to an ogee form when the walls were re-built; above it is a 12th-century label, re-set, with crude head-stops of the 15th century. The S. doorway, between the S. windows, has 12th-century shafted jambs with enriched capitals and moulded bases; the two-centred head is of the 15th century and of two moulded orders with a chamfered label. The West Tower (10 ft. by 9 ft.) is of two stages with an embattled parapet, diagonal W. buttresses, and a circular staircase in the S.W. angle. The 15th-century tower arch is two-centred, and of three orders, the two outer orders chamfered, the innermost sunk-chamfered, dying into slightly chamfered jambs. The 15th-century W. window is of two cinque-foiled lights with a septfoil in a two-centred head. The N., E. and W. walls of the bell-chamber have each a 15th-century window of two cinque-foiled lights under a flat head; in the S. wall is a window of late 14th or early 15th-century date, re-set, and of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head; all the windows are grooved for glass. The South Porch (6½ ft. square) has a 14th-century entrance archway, two-centred, and of two continuously moulded orders with a moulded label. In the E. wall is a modern window, and the whole porch has been much restored. The steeppitched Roof of the chancel incorporates some old work, including a truss dated 1597. The roof of the nave retains four low-pitched trusses with pierced pendants and curved wall-brackets which have traceried spandrels, and is dated 1599, but has been much restored.

Fittings:—Bells: two; 1st inscribed 'Sancta Anna Ora Pro Nobis, i.s.', by John Sturdy, 15th-century; 2nd by Richard Chandler, 1676. On bell frame, incised, 'IOHN 1618 IEFS'. Communion Table: small, with turned baluster legs, carved upper rail, early 17th-century. Door: In nave— in S. doorway, possibly mediæval, quite plain, scratched on it, '17xx2'. Font: octagonal, with foliated panels of rough workmanship on the bowl, 15th-century. Piscina: In chancel—with trefoiled head, 14th-century. Plate: includes cup and cover paten of 1569. Screen: In modern pulpit— three traceried heads of panels from 15th-century screen. Miscellanea: In chancel—over S. side of chancel arch, small stone carved as diamond-shaped flower, probably 15th-century. S. porch—over entrance, sundial, stone with incised figures and lines, inscribed 'T.E. 1581'.

Condition—Good, restored; a considerable amount of ivy which eventually may cause harm.

Secular

Monuments (2–7)

These buildings are almost all of one storey and an attic, of 17th-century origin, and retain original timber-framing with brick filling of later dates; the roofs are tiled or thatched.

(2). Cottage, now two tenements, about 100 yards E. of the church. The walls, except at the N.W. end, were re-faced or re-built with brick in the 18th century.

Condition—Fairly good.

(3). Cottage, N.E. of (2), is of two storeys. In the 18th century the walls, except the gables at the ends, were re-faced with brick. The central chimney stack is of 17th-century brick.

Condition—Good.

(4). House, originally several tenements, about 100 yards N.E. of the church. It contains a considerable quantity of old panelling, etc., brought from elsewhere.

Condition—Very good; completely re-built except timber-framing.

Main Road, E. side

(5). Cottage, about 250 yards S. of the church. It is of two storeys, and of the central chimney type, built c. 1600, but in the 18th or 19th century the walls were completely cased in brick. The central chimney stack has two square shafts, set diagonally.

Condition—Good.

(6). Cottage, now three tenements, about 170 yards N.E. of the church. It was built probably in the 16th century. The plan is L-shaped. The timber-framing has heavy wall-posts and diagonal braces; the shorter wing, which is lower than the other, has been much re-built with brick. At the junction of the wings is a large chimney stack, possibly original.

Condition—Poor.

(7). Cottage, on the N. side of a by-road, about 250 yards N.E. of the church. The walls are whitewashed, and the roof is half-hipped at each end.

Condition—Poor.