St Mary's Church, Rolleston on Dove

St Mary's Church is a parish church of the Church of England in Rolleston on Dove, Staffordshire. Parts of the structure date to 1130, though it was extensively renovated in 1892. It is unusual in having the main entrance door on the north side, with the southern entrance reserved for members of the Mosley family, local landowners and key donors to the church. The church features stained glass dating to the medieval period and more recent windows by Charles Eamer Kempe. The tower houses eight bells, one dating to 1586. The church is grade I listed and there are associated grade II listings for churchyard railings, a memorial, the lychgate and a former church grammar school. The lychgate, by Cecil Greenwood Hare, also functions as a war memorial. A Saxon cross in the churchyard was relocated from Tatenhill.

St Mary’s Church, Rolleston on Dove
South elevation
52.8464°N 1.6515°W / 52.8464; -1.6515
LocationRolleston on Dove, Staffordshire
CountryEngland
DenominationChurch of England
History
DedicationSt Mary the Virgin
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade I listed
Administration
ParishRolleston: St Mary
DeaneryTutbury
ArchdeaconryStoke-on-Trent
DioceseDiocese of Lichfield

Description

The church is the parish church of Rolleston on Dove, Staffordshire in the Diocese of Lichfield in the Church of England. It lies within the deanery of Tutbury and the archdeanery of Stoke-upon-Trent.[1] By 2018 the vicar also covered Holy Trinity Church in Anslow and St Mary's Church, Tutbury.[2] The church is grade I listed by Historic England and was first listed on 12 March 1964.[3]

The Mosley family, local landowners, were closely associated with the church. They had their own private entrance on the south of the building and had rights over seating and the erection of monuments in the south aisle.[4]:15 They retain the right of burial in the churchyard, which is otherwise full.[4]:16

Structure
View from the north-east

The church dates to the 12th and 13th centuries but underwent a major restoration in 1892 by the architect Sir Arthur Blomfield.[3] The oldest surviving portion is the north entrance (unusual in a church, whose entrances are usually on the south), in Romanesque style and dating to 1130.[4]:15 It is constructed of ashlar sandstone and consists of a nave, chancel and tower with spire. There are aisles on the north and south sides of the structure.[3]

The nave, much of which is 13th century, is almost entirely enclosed by the aisles.[3][4]:15 There are two bays exposed on the south of the church, the one to the left of the aisle holds the 12th-century round-arched entrance doorway and the one to the right a pointed window with three lights. The single bay exposed on the north side of the church contains a window described as of unusual 17th-century construction with three treofil-topped lights and a criss-cross panel over. The nave is supported by buttresses, two stages in height. There is a three-light pointed window to the eastern end of the chancel and a cinquefoil-headed window on the north wall. The nave and chancel are roofed in red tiles.[3]

The north aisle was added in 1892 and consists of three bays, each with a two-light pointed window, with two-stage buttresses between. The easternmost bay is larger than the others and contains a priest's door.[3] The south aisle, extended in 1892 by demolishing an external vestry, consists of four bays, again divided by two-stage buttresses. There is a pent-porched door at the south-western end, the Mosley entrance, dating to 1821.[3][4]:15 The aisles are both roofed in lead, behind stone parapets.[3]

The tower dates to the 14th century and sits at the western end of the nave.[4]:15 It is of three stages buttressed on the external corners to the full height. The tower is topped by a crenellated parapet, with gargoyles, and a stone-built spire added in 1892. The bell openings are pointed and have louvres. There is a window at the western side, on the lowest stage.[3]

Interior

The chancel features stained glass by the Victorian designer Charles Eamer Kempe and a window in the south aisle contains medieval stained glass.[3][4]:16 The chancel roof is supported by scissor trusses, the nave roof is on collar and arch braces. There are two octagonal pulpits at the western end, one of fretted oak on a stone base and one 19th-century in date of stone with quatrefoil panelled sides. The font is also octagonal. The tower is behind a wooden screen.[3]

The interior was extensively remodelled in 1884 with new pews installed, recycling oak from the former seats; rendering and whitewash removed from the walls; the tower arch exposed and a gallery removed.[4]:15 The tower houses eight bells, including one dating to 1586, and an electrically operated clock. An organ was provided by the Mosley family during the 1892 renovation.[4]:16

The church features a 1536 monument to Robert Sherborne, Bishop of Chicester. There are also monuments for Thomas Caldwell (died 1554), an unknown couple (c.1600), Sir Edward Mosley (died 1638) and a Wilman (1692). There are plaques for numerous members of the Mosley family including Sir Oswald Mosley, 4th Baronet (1915).[3]

Churchyard
The Saxon cross

The churchyard is surrounded by a sandstone curtilage wall.[4]:13 It was extensively remodelled in the 19th century with entrances stopped up, walls moved and rebuilt and new entrances formed. In 1897 Sir Oswald Mosley, 4th Baronet relocated a Saxon cross to the churchyard from the grounds of Rolleston Hall.[4]:16[5] The cross had formed part of the floor of the porch of the church in Tatenhill before it was removed by the Mosleys to their grounds.[5] An iron fence was installed in 1900 to prevent cattle from gaining entrance and in 1923 Sir Oswald Mosley, 5th Baronet extended the churchyard with a grant of land. Floodlighting was installed in 1996 and a millennium yew planted in 2000.[4]:16 One of the memorials in the churchyard, to George Ridgway, and some of the railings, with a gate, were separately granted grade II listed building protection on 26 March 1986.[6][7]

The south-west of the churchyard included St. Mary's Grammar School until the churchyard was remodelled in 1837, with the boys' entrance moved to the southern side to save vandalism to the windows and gravestones.[4]:17 The school was first endowed by Bishop Sherbourne in 1520 and rebuilt by Sir Edward Mosley, 2nd Baronet in 1640.[4]:17 It closed as a school in 1909 when a council school was opened in the village and is now used by various village organisations.[4]:17:22 The former school was granted protection as a grade II listed building on 26 March 1986.[8] The churchyard as a whole is listed as a scheduled monument.[4]:64

The lychgate at the northern entrance to the churchyard doubles as a war memorial and was erected by public subscription and a donation from the Mosley family in 1919. Designed by Cecil Greenwood Hare and built in Lichfield the structure contains a bronze crucifix and lists of those villagers killed during the two world wars.[4]:17 The pierced side panels were replaced with new versions, in oak, in the 2000s.[4]:22 The lychgate was granted protection as a grade II listed building on 26 March 1986.[9]

See also
  • Former grammar school
  • Detail of north entrance
  • The Ridgway memorial
  • Lychgate

References
  1. "Find a Church: Rolleston: St Mary". Diocese of Lichfield. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  2. Kreft, Helen (3 December 2018). "This popular vicar is to bid farewell after 19 years". Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  3. "Church of St Mary, Rolleston on Dove, Staffordshire". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  4. "Rolleston Conservation Area Character Appraisal" (PDF). East Staffordshire Borough Council. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. The Reliquary & Illustrated Archæologist. Bemrose and Sons, Limited. 1908. p. 47.
  6. "Ridgway Memorial Approximately 30m West of Tower of Church of St Mary, Rolleston on Dove – 1038462". Historic England. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  7. "Churchyard Railings and Gate Approximately 100m to West of Church of St Mary, Rolleston on Dove – 1293665". Historic England. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  8. "School and Attached House Approximately 100m West of Church of St Mary, Rolleston on Dove – 1190728". Historic England. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  9. "Lychgate and War Memorial to Church of St Mary, Rolleston on Dove – 1038461". Historic England. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
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