Offley

98. OFFLEY.

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

Ecclesiastical

(1). Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalene, about ½ mile S.E. of the village, is built chiefly of flint and stone; the chancel is faced with Portland stone, and the N. aisle with cement; the tower is of brick; the roofs are covered with lead, except the roof of the porch, which is tiled. The Nave and Aisles were built c. 1220, and material of the same date has been re-used in the South Porch: the windows and doorways were inserted in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Chancel was re-cased and re-fitted in 1777; early in the 19th century the West Tower was re-built and the church has since been much repaired.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (42 ft. by 17½ ft.) has an 18th-century E. window, and is also lighted through a cupola in the roof; the E. end is apsidal inside, but square outside. The 18th-century chancel arch is semi-circular. The Nave (54½ ft. by 22 ft.) has N. and S. arcades of four bays; the pillars lean outwards, probably owing to the pressure of an earlier roof; they are octagonal and have moulded bases and carved foliated capitals; the arches are of two chamfered orders with labels terminating in carved stops, of which some have been broken off; above the arcades is a 15th-century clearstorey, much restored. The North Aisle (8 ft. wide) has a modern E. window; in the N. wall are three 15th-century windows of two lights under square heads, repaired; on the E. jamb of the easternmost window is a small inscription recording the consecration on the festival of St. Sulpicius, 1417, of the side altar near the window; the N. doorway was inserted towards the end of the 14th century, and has a two-centred arch of two orders; there is no W. window. The South Aisle (7½ ft. wide) has an E. window and three S. windows of two lights with modern tracery, but the inner jambs are probably of the 15th century. The 15th-century S. doorway has a square head. The Tower (about 12 ft. square) has a small spire above it. The archway, opening into the nave, is plastered. The South Porch is built of brick, covered with cement, and has some re-used 13th-century material in the W. window; the entrance archway is much repaired with cement. The Roof of the nave is low-pitched, and has an old tie-beam at the E. end on a broken corbel, carved with a head; the chancel has a flat wood ceiling; the roof of the S. aisle is of the 15th century.

Fittings—Bells: six; 1st 1632, 2nd 1618, 3rd 1583, 4th 1619, and 5th 1618. Brasses: on N. wall of N. aisle, of John Samwel, 1529, his two wives and one son: of a man, his three wives, and nine sons, no inscription, but evidently by the same engraver as the other: on floor of N. aisle, slabs with indents of the two brasses. Font: bowl of Totternhoe stone with traceried panelled sides, mid 14th-century; wood cover, early 17th-century. Glass: in the middle window of N. aisle, some fragments, 14th-century. Monument: on W. wall of S. aisle, to John Spencer, 1699. Piscina: in S. aisle, 15th-century. Seating: W. of the gangway in the nave and aisles, late 15th-century. Tiles: two, in S. aisle, over the piscina, with the pattern and lettering in reverse; probably 14th-century. Miscellanea: in the chancel, an ancient stone coffin.

Condition—Generally good; some of the N. windows are slightly decayed, but are substantially sound.

Secular

(2). Offley Place, N. of the church, was re-built c. 1770, except the N. wing, which is of late 17th-century date, and is of three storeys, built of brick, with buttressed walls and a parapet.

Condition—Good; much altered.

(3). Little Offley, two miles N.W. of the church, is a two-storeyed brick house, built probably early in the 17th century; the roofs are tiled. The plan is H-shaped; the central block was re-faced apparently c. 1695, and wings, S.E. and W. of those already existing, were added at about the same time. A passage on the N. and the N.E. wing are modern. The S. front has a central pediment and a deep wood cornice which extends to the wings on each side; the central doorway has a divided pediment, and an elaborately carved wood cornice and posts. The windows have modern sashes. There are four original chimney stacks; one is a large rectangular block, repaired at the top; the others have square shafts set diagonally. A rain-water head on the N. side is dated 1695. The main doorway has a late 17th-century panelled door; in one room, W. of the entrance hall, are some pieces of oak panelling and an elaborately carved wood overmantel, with three half-figures, and two panels with semi-circular heads, of early 17th-century date; in the ceiling are two old chamfered beams; the kitchen retains its wide fireplace and two similar beams. A nail-studded oak door of early 17th-century date also remains.

Condition—Good.

(4). Westbury Farm, about 2½ furlongs N.W. of the church, is a house of plastered timber, built probably in the second half of the 16th century; the roofs are tiled. The original plan appears to have been of the H type, with the hall and a room above it in the central block, facing N.E.; a kitchen wing at one end, and a solar wing at the other. The house was much altered in the 18th century and a wing was added on the S.W. in the 19th century, but it is probable that the kitchens were originally on the S.E., as there is a porch at that end of the central block. The N.E. elevation is flanked by the gabled ends of the two wings, and in the middle is a two-storeyed bay window; at the N.W. end is a chimney stack, probably inserted c. 1600. The projecting porch on the S.E. is also gabled, and has an overhanging upper storey. In the ceiling of the hall is a beam moulded with an ogee hollow and roll; the interior is otherwise modern.

Near the house is a square dovecote, built of brick-nogged timber, probably of the 17th century; the half-hipped roof is covered with tiles.

Condition—Fairly good; much repaired.

(5). Houses and Cottages in the village: several cottages are of plastered timber, with thatched and tiled roofs, built between 1550 and 1650; a few small houses, of brick, are of late 17th-century date.

Condition—Generally in good repair.

(6). The Green Man Inn, N. of the church, is probably of late 16th-century date. The walls are of timber covered with rough-cast; the roofs are tiled. The original plan appears to have been of the L type, with hall and kitchens in the long wing, and the 'solar', etc., in the short wing.

Condition—Good; much repaired.