Ashmansworth, Hampshire - St James Church
12th-13th centuries
Click on photos to enlarge.
Notes in italics from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight by Nikolaus Pevsner
and David Lloyd (1967) Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
South, nave with porch
South, chancel
East wall
North side
West side
Nave
and chancel and bell-turret. Brick S porch of 1694.
The chancel is of the C13 (see the lancet windows), but the brick E wall
is dated 1745.
In fact, the windows in the north wall of the chancel appear to be
round-headed Norman, not the later pointed lancets. See chancel north wall
above (exterior) and below (interior).
Doorway in porch
Chancel
arch
Chancel north wall
Nicely
unrestored interior. Plain Norman chancel arch. To its l. and r. wall
paintings of the late C12, almost entirely unrecognizable. But they are
said to have represented in large medallions l. of the arch the Harrowing
of Hell, r. of the arch the Resurrection (?) and the Pentecost. The
paintings above the chancel arch surrounding a former rood are C15. Squints
on either side of the arch giving views to the chancel.
Two
tie-beams in the roof carry bosses carved with leaves and monster heads.
The
composer Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) lived in the village and is buried
beside the porch. There is also an engraved glass window in the
porch by Laurence Whistler dedicated to English music.