OS grid reference SJ 491 196 Denomination Anglican Dedication Martin of Tours Designated as world heritage site 13 June 1958 | Country England Functional status Redundant Architectural type Church Architect Samuel Pountney Smith | |
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Location Preston Gubbals, Shropshire Website Churches Conservation Trust Architectural styles Gothic Revival architecture, English Gothic architecture People also search for Coronation Chair, St Peter's Church, Cound, St Laurence's Church, Church Stretton | ||
St Martin's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Preston Gubbals, Shropshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.
Contents
History
St Martin's originated as a chapel of ease, and what now remains was the chancel of a medieval parish church. It was probably altered in the 14th or the 15th century. In 1866 a new church was added to it, and it became the south aisle of that church. This enlargement was designed by Samuel Pountney Smith, and cost £1,600 (equivalent to £130,000 in 2015). In 1973 most of the work carried out in 1866 was demolished, leaving a single-cell building. The arcade of the 1866 building has been retained, it has been blocked, and forms the north wall of the present building. A bell formerly in the church is now the Sanctus bell in St Alkmund's Church, Shrewsbury. It was cast in 1720 by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester. The church was declared redundant on 1 June 1973, and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 14 November 1974.
Exterior
The building is constructed in sandstone with a tile roof. The nave and chancel form a single cell. The south side of the church contains two buttresses, three square-headed windows with two or three lights, a round-arched priest's door from the 12th century, and a 19th-century doorway. On the north side is the former nave arcade in three bays into which 20th-century three-light windows have been inserted. At the west end are round-arched windows, and a doorway that formerly led to the tower staircase. The east end contains a two-light window.
Interior
Many of the carved wooden fittings were made by Rev E. D. Poole, the vicar of the church in the 19th century. These include the altar table and the reredos, the choir stalls, the pews, the lectern and the pulpit. On each side of the altar are boards containing the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. The octagonal stone font dates probably from the 16th century; it has a 19th-century base and cover. The oak parish chest dates probably from the 17th century. To the left of the south door is a royal coat of arms, and on the east wall is a pair of benefactors' boards. The monuments include a stone coffin slab from the 14th century carved with the bust of a man above a foliated cross.
There are a variety of war-related memorials inside: