Church

St Mary, St Peter & St Paul, Westbury on Severn

St Mary, St Peter & St Paul, Westbury on Severn

The parish church of St Mary, St Peter and St Paul stands on Bell Lane in Westbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, a large fourteenth-century church with a detached late-thirteenth-century tower and timber spire, in the Diocese of Gloucester.

Location
Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire
Country
England
County
Gloucestershire
City / town
Westbury on Severn
Address
Bell Lane, Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire, GL14 1PS
Postcode
GL14 1PS
Built
Detached tower late C13, wooden spire C14; church body essentially C14; restored 1862 and 1876–78
Architect
Medland and Maberley (1862 and 1876–78 restorations)
Denomination
Church of England
Dedication
Mary
Diocese
Gloucester
Parish
Westbury on Severn
Grade
II*
Style
Decorated, with Perpendicular west window; Victorian restoration
Materials
Lias and grey stone; reddish render on south and west; machine-made red clay tiles; detached tower of rubble with red-brown quoins and a shingled timber spire
Grid reference
SO 7171 1388
Opening hours
Open dawn to dusk everyday.
Access
Level access to the main areas

Overview

No fabric is known to survive from the church recorded on the site by the eleventh century. The detached tower, about fifty feet from the nave, is late thirteenth century; its broach spire, framed in Forest of Dean oak and clad in wooden shingles, is fourteenth century and about 153 feet high. A medieval St Mary’s chapel against the east face of the tower (used as a school 1710–1849) was demolished in 1862. The spire was repaired with timber from casks in 1664 and 1680. The church body is essentially fourteenth century: a long clerestoried nave of seven bays, aisles with porches, and chancel. Medland and Maberley of Gloucester restored the church in 1862 (new chancel arch and east window, vestry, re-roofing, gallery removed) and again in 1876–78 (aisle roofs, reredos, window stonework). Glass includes work by Clayton & Bell, Jones & Willis, and Kempe & Tower.

The church is listed Grade II* (list entry 1101724, listing NGR SO 71715 13886). The detached tower and spire are listed separately at Grade I (list entry 1299161). No dedicated parish website has been confirmed.

Further Information