You are in: Places > Articles > Screveton Church

Screveton Church

By Rev. J. Standish.

In  his additions to Thoroton, in 1790, John Throsby speaks of this church as dedicated to St. Winifred.  This dedication would be unique in the diocese. I take St. Winifred to be a mistake for St. Wilfrid. St. Winifred is a British saint of the 7th century, whose life and legend are in­timately connected with Holywell, in Flintshire. While St. Winifred is not in any way connected with Nottinghamshire, the intimate association of St. Wilfrid with this county may be gathered from the number of churches dedicated to him. These are Kelham, Calverton, Kingston-on-Soar, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Marnham, North Muskham, South Muskham, Scrooby, Wilford, and Screveton. Throsby no doubt obtained his information from Ecton’s Thesaurus. Pre-Reformation wills kept at York give St. Wilfrid.¹

History explains the frequency of these dedications in Nottinghamshire. In 664 Wilfrid took a prominent part in the conference at Whitby, and was afterwards nominated to the See of York. He was contemporary with Theodore of Canterbury, and was brought, more than once, into unpleasant relations with that great primate. This led to Wilfrid being kept, at different times, out of his See of York; but he was a man of immense energy, and during these periods twice visited Mercia, doing great missionary work and founding many religious houses. He died at Oundle in Northampton­shire, in the year 709, having been one of the most remark­able of English churchmen, and a man of wonderful activity, great resources, and conspicuous talents. Dr. Bright tells us that with the death of Wilfrid closed a great period,” and the period which succeeded was altogether inferior and adorned by less splendid names.

There is one other point respecting this dedication. Screveton Feast Day falls on the Sunday before St. Luke’s Day, the 18th of October. On this reckoning, the Feast Day cannot be earlier than the 11th, nor later than the 17th October. St. Wilfrid’s Day falls between these dates, namely on October 12th; on the other hand St. Winifred’s Day is on the 3rd November.

Going briefly through the architecture of the church, you will find the oldest parts to be these:—the arch on the north side of the chancel, the easternmost lancet window on the south side of the chancel, the beautiful font under the tower, and the north arcade.

The arch, on the north side of the chancel, is of two orders of chamfers, so obtusely pointed as to be almost semi­circular, the pillars have the plain pointed bowtell moulding, and the capitals have square abaci.

The two lancet windows, on the south side of the chancel, are without any label mould, and the eastern one, untouched by later hands, must be a very early window of its kind. The respond at the east end of the south arcade has the cap and abacus mould carried round a square pier; but this seems to be a restoration error. A somewhat similar idea has been carried out on the respond at the east end of the north arcade.

Font, Screveton Church.

The font is specially interesting. It possesses a beautiful arcade of intersecting arches, with pillars that are practically disengaged from the body of the font. Above the arcade, the rim of the font is adorned with leaf work and a continuous piece of cable work, one strand of which is enriched with the nail-head ornament. The arcading runs closer on the western side, and indicates that the mason has worked without any plan or any preliminary striking, out of his design. At the ends of a diameter of the font, running north and south, it should be noticed that the font has been repaired by two pieces of new Roche stone, given by Lord Scarbrough to the present rector. Apparently the font has possessed a lid, with hinge at one side and hasp at the other.

Now what is the date of this font? About 1170 is the date generally given, and it is spoken of as transitional Norman. But Rickman gives the date as 1140 for the Ancaster font, and 1150 for the date of similar arcading at Kelso, Scotland, We have examples of this arcading at Southwell, Peterborough, Croyland, Lincoln, etc., not to mention a ruder form of it at Stanton-on-the-Wolds. The text books regard this arcading as Norman, where it is not combined with the lancet arch. There is similar arcade work, semicircular and intersecting, on the west front of Lincoln Minster, the date of which lies within well-known limits. It may be as early as 1123, and cannot be later than 1147. On these grounds I am inclined to think that this Screveton font may well be from thirty to forty years older than it is generally said to be.

The aisles of the nave have been rebuilt and their walls lowered, but judging from the windows, which have been re-inserted, the north aisle comes next in date after the chancel and the nave arcades. Its two three-light windows, with intersecting mullions, belong to the earlier half of the 14th century, and are very early Decorated work. The windows at the east and west ends of the north aisle have the hollow chamfer, and are probably of the early Decorated period.

The arcades of the nave are Early English work. The bases on the north side have a very early three-roll mould, and one on the south side the later water-mould. The two square-headed windows of two lights each belong to the late Decorated period, and are possibly fifty years later in date than the arcades (i.e., circa 1380). There is half a similar window at the west end of the south aisle, and at the east end, a still later insertion in the shape of a small Per­pendicular window of three lights. Between the latter and the adjoining window of the south aisle, a piscina was discovered during a restoration in the year 1884. The name of the chapel which it implies is not known. Its basin is ornamented with a conventional lily, of which the petals are disposed in a circle. It is late Decorated work, I think, contemporary with the square-headed windows.

Misericord, Screveton Church.

In the first volume of our Transactions, the writer on this church says “ the tower was the last addition, late in the sixteenth century.” I cannot reconcile myself to this state­ment, as the square-headed west window of three lights, and the diagonal buttresses, and the moulding of the string courses are marks of the Decorated period. The string mould­ing is also found in Early English work.

The present fittings of the church are all modern, though the bench-ends in the choir have been modelled on older work. The priest’s stall, on the north side of the chancel, has an old miserere seat built into it, worthy of inspection.

In 1881, the following work was done on the chancel:— Gable built up with new coping and cross, new roof, new east window, and one new small lancet window on south side. Blocked-up archway in north wall opened out and new sacristy enclosing it and east window of north aisle of nave; new buttresses, and walls repaired generally where required ; new floor, of Minton tiles, with steps; new altar and rail; new oak stalls for two priests and choir.

In 1884, the north and south walls of the aisles, and the east wall of the south aisle were taken down and rebuilt from the foundations; the heads of the windows re-inserted with new mullions throughout; new roofs to nave and aisles, with red tiles; new door (made of old beams of nave roof) on north side; new porch on south side, replacing dilapidated one of red brick ; new buttresses throughout excepting tower buttresses ; new coping and cross ; nave and aisles re-seated.

Whalley Monument, Screveton Church.

The Whalley monument, now under the tower and formerly in the chancel, must not be forgotten. In his recent book, Mr. John T. Godfrey gives an accurate description and a good illustration of it.

The monument is a fine example of the splendid series of alabaster tombs in this and other countries. Two articles on this subject, dealing with the centre and extent of this industry, will be found in volumes X and LXI of the Archaeological Journal. The papers are written by Mr. Richardson and Mr. St. John Hope respectively. The trade from the Midlands with France has been indicated in Mr. W. Stevenson’s paper in volume XI of our Transactions. How far French examples may be English work can only be settled after a minute comparison of many English and French examples. A small volume published by the Lancashire Historic Society, on the Lydiate monuments, near Liverpool, gives illustrations of the separate panels. I would suggest the photographing of separate panels, as well as of complete monuments, as a better means of comparison and as a fair way to some definite conclusion.

Under the tower you will also find part of a tomb, which came from the south aisle (east end); part of a 15th century sepulchral slab, with incised cross on it; and a stone on the window cill with some late 11th century rope-work on it. Notice the old chest at the west end of the nave. It is unusually long and has two compartments. The lid of the left hand compartment has a slit in the centre of it, through which, centuries ago, many coins must have been dropped. The chest has ironwork fittings, and has apparently been worked out of one solid piece of wood; hence our use of the word “trunk” in the sense of “a portable box or chest.”

In the churchyard, notice the sundial; also the old yew tree, which consists of parent stem and daughter tree, the parent stem being shorn of its branches.

Not a few distinguished men have been more or less connected with Screveton, and of these, notices of Richard Whalley, the politician, Robert Recorde, the mathematician, Edward Whalley, the regicide, William Goffe, his son-in-law, Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury, and George Christopher Hopkinson, the meteorologist and writer on education will be found in the Dictionary of National Biography. The last two were formerly rectors of Screveton.

As parcel of the Duchy of Lancaster, the inhabitants of Screveton were exempt from market and other tolls through­out the kingdom. As certificates of exemption in connection with this feudal privilege are rare, Mr. T. M. Blagg has kindly lent, for reproduction, his great-great-grandfather’s certificate.

Before leaving Screveton, members had the privilege of seeing a number of curios in the possession of Mrs. Bury. Besides the two already named, as belonging to Margidunum, the following items were on view:—two bronze kelts, a small iron axe, thought to be the top-piece of a helmet, a thurible, a sacring bell without tongue and with suspension rings, an umbo of a Danish shield, in a very crumbling state, a bottle stamp of wax, with I.W. on it; none of which could be located. The remaining two large keys were located ; the round handled one having been dug up in Screveton Churchyard in 1881, and the ogee-handled one in Chapel Close, Bingham. The latter possibly belonged to St. Helen’s Chapel, mentioned in Thoroton.

Two large keys.	Sacring bells.