Norman Parish Churches....
Notes based on text from
'The Buildings of England': Gloucestershire
by David Verey
After the Norman Conquest, parish churches were often rebuilt in stone; or
built anew close to the manor house as at
Boxwell,
Down Ampney,
Notgrove,
Postlip and
Stanway.
Many Cotswold churches retain elements of their Norman origins.
The earliest and most basic plan type was 'two-cell', chancel and nave.
Typically the nave has opposing north and south doorways as at
Winstone,
Coln Rogers and
Duntisbourne Rouse.
Cotswold chancels are nearly always straight-ended.
Temple Guiting, with its apsidal east end, is a rare exception.
Five Cotswold church chancels have no east window - these being at
Brimpsfield,
Notgrove,
Cold Aston,
Baunton and
Winstone. In other churches the east window is very small and
architecturally insignificant as at
Edgeworth,
Clapton-on-the-Hill and
Tarlton.
A Cotswold feature was to insert a central tower between nave
and chancel.
Elkstone and
Hampnett churches still retain their rare 12th C
stone-vaulted chancels.
Avening has a rib-vaulted crossing in addition to a vaulted chancel.
Ozleworth has a rare hexagonal central tower and
Swindon Village has a hexagonal west tower. West towers,
normally square, became the trend at the end of the 12th C. Good
examples can be found at
North Cerney and
Chedworth. Built a little later, in similar style,
are the churches at
Beverston and
Duntisbourne Abbots.
Norman stone sculpture found in some Cotswold churches is impressive.
The most popular form of decorative elaboration in parish churches was
carved tympana. Typically this would be above the main doorway.
Occasionally it is above both north and south doors. Plain tympana
with recessed panels are more common and usually earlier. Often they
are carved with conventional diapering, or star, fish-scale, honeycomb,
and lozenge decoration as at
Farmington,
Saintbury,
Southrop,
Winstone and
Condicote. Mid 12th C carved tympana can also be found at
Ampney St. Mary,
Stratton,
Harnhill,
Eastleach Turville,
Little Barrington and
Lower Swell.
Beakhead ornamentation can be found at
Windrush,
Quenington,
South Cerney and
Siddington.
Late Norman chevron mouldings are widespread. At
Withington the south doorway has three orders of chevron mouldings
and a hoodmould of daisies ending in elaborately carved dragons' heads.
The south doorway at
Little Barrington has keeled shafts with stiff-leaf capitals, an arch
of three orders deeply cut with chevron and lozenge ornament,
and a hoodmould of dogtooth interrupted at the apex by a grotesque head.
Norman stone carving ornamentation to
doorways and chancel arches
Numerous Gloucestershire churches have Norman doorways.
This, at
South Cerney
church, is one of the most elaborate:-
Norman stone fonts
There about sixty Norman stone fonts in Gloucestershire.
This one is at
Southrop.
Norman leadwork fonts
There are six similar Norman lead fonts in Gloucestershire -
at
Siston,
Tidenham,
Sandhurst,
Oxenhall,
Frampton-on-Severn and
Gloucester Cathedral.
The one in the Lady-Chapel at the Cathedral
came from the now ruined church at
Lancaut, by the River Wye.
