We have 11 Images Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of Rosemary Lockie

St Nicholas's Church,
GL20 8JZ,
Ashchurch, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

This Church has (or had) a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in 1121, and we understand it is still open.

St Nicholas's Church is a Grade II Listed Building - see the British Listed Buildings website for details.

Photographs one and two show the approach to the church, and a view of the nave. Our third photograph shows the chapel at the east end of the north aisle, dedicated to St Thomas a'Becket. The guide book says the second altar [in a church] is usually dedicated to St Mary, but it may be that the chapel was established when pilgrimages to Canterbury were popular, and Ashchurch stood on one of the main pilgrims' routes". The stained glass (the 'Ascension Window') is the church's most recent addition, and was by J.W. Kubler in 1946, "in the style of Kempe". Most of the other stained glass in the church is by Kempe.

There is a painted frieze, with oak foliage, and portraits in roundels, thought to be of the Guy family who lived at the manor of Aston on Carrant in 1662, half way up the north wall; but unfortunately the frieze is now obscured by the rather solid presence of the church organ.

The organ, shown in our fourth photograph, was built in 1898, originally for Ryecroft Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Conduit Street, Gloucester by Sweetland of Bath at a cost of £400. It was bought by St Nicholas for £100 in 1955, when the Ryecroft Chapel was closed.

The oak rood screen (fifth photograph) was erected in the late 1400s. It is said in the guide leaflet to be of "traditional West Country design", and one of the few ancient rood screens to survive. Most of them were destroyed, either by the Protestant Bishop Hooper, appointed Bishop of Gloucester in 1550, or during the Civil War and following Commonwealth period.

There is a painted stone monument to William FERRERS (sixth photograph) on the south wall beside the pulpit. He was born at Fiddington, the second son of Roger Ferrers, who was a member of the Worshipful Guild of Fishmongers. He made his fortune in London, but he used much of his wealth for charitable bequests, to the poor, and in the foundation of the Tewkesbury Grammar School in 1576. He is buried in All Hallows Church in Lumbar Street, London.

Our seventh and eighth photographs show two views of the chancel. Of particular note are the pink shades to the lights on the ends of the choir stalls. As can be seen, the chancel is long, which together with a nave of 72 feet contribute to a church of extraordinary length. The chancel also "bends", which is not an accident. It is called a 'weeping chancel' as it is a way of representing the inclined head of Jesus on the cross architecturally. The East Window is by Hardman.

The unusual internal flying buttresses seen in the north aisle, on our ninth photograph were added during the church's 19th century restoration, to support the north arcade.

The Royal Coat of Arms above the archway between the nave and tower is dated about 1714 shown on our tenth photograph, and is that of King George I (1714-1725). Royal Coats of Arms were introduced into churches in the Reformation to emphasise the Monarch was now head of the church in England and not the Pope. There are also said to be traces of wall painting on the archway - "a simple foliate motif in red", but unfortunately I was unable to see it.

Building the church began in 1092, with consecration in 1121. This is contemporary with the Abbey at Tewkesbury. The church 'capella de Estchurche' included stone from an earlier Saxon church, and some of the discarded stone from Tewkesbury, where perhaps carvings had not gone quite as planned.

The last of our photographs shows what is probably the most recent addition to the church - a 'steel and glass' structure at the west end of the north aisle - so adding a present century touch to a building whose history spans over 1000 years.

More details are available on St Nicholas's website. [Other Source: The Parish Church of St Nicholas, Ashchurch, guide leaflet based on fact sheet prepared by the late Norman Grinnell, former Churchwarden]

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church is located at OS grid reference SO9276333414. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Nicholas's Church, Ashchurch shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Ashchurch shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Ashchurch, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.