St Mary, Colston Bassett

The remains of St Mary’s on New Road, Colston Bassett, Nottinghamshire, are a Grade I listed ruin and scheduled monument, still a consecrated burial ground in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham.

Overview

Historic England records a church now ruinous: a twelfth-century north arcade, predominantly fourteenth-century fabric, a fifteenth-century upper tower and some eighteenth-century alterations to the arcade. The materials are thinly coursed rubble with an ashlar upper tower. Surviving elements include a three-bay nave (the north aisle gone), south aisle and transept, a three-bay chancel and west tower. Two Norman circular piers and a respond have scalloped capitals; the pointed arcade above has inserted round-arched Gibbs windows. The tower has two-light bell-chamber openings, a quatrefoil frieze with corner gargoyles and a crenellated parapet with pinnacles.

In 1892 the Church Commissioners ordered the roof removed when the new Church of St John the Divine was built in the village. Pevsner noted the walled-up Norman north arcade as the oldest visible part. The parish of Wiverton in the Vale states that the church was never deconsecrated; consolidation from 1994, led by John Severn, was followed by a service of re-dedication in July 2005. Occasional outdoor services continue. The listing also cites Scheduled Ancient Monument No. 170 (NHLE scheduled entry 1006381).

Further Information

• Historic England list entry 1210576
• Parish of Wiverton in the Vale: Saint Mary (ruin)