for miles around, has been the subject of much controversy regarding
its design and its antiquity. Obviously, to make a good polygonal
spire, the tower top from which it springs should be four-square; but
in this instance, as in many others where the spire has been built upon
a tower which was not originally intended to receive it, the width of
the tower from east to west is greater than the breadth from north
to south, and consequently the spire becomes an irregular polygon.
The spire at Edwinstowe was built in the latter half of the fifteenth
century upon a tower of twelfth or very early thirteenth century work.
At first sight the spire appears to belong to the same period as the
tower; the angle shafts in the peculiar arrangement of square pinnacles
which are set upon the broaches may easily be mistaken for Early
English work, but a more careful scrutiny reveals the fact that the
merlons in the quasi-parapets have the mouldings mitred and returned
on the sides as well as on the top--a sure indication of a later date.
There are dormers at the springing to correspond with the pinnacles,
the upper portion of the spire being quite plain, excepting that each
cardinal face is pierced with a quatrefoil near the summit--a further
indication of late date. Judging by the character of the work, I think
it is probable that the spire was commenced after the completion of
the north aisle, late in the fifteenth century, but it did not survive
completion long, for in 1679 the parishioners sent a petition to King
Charles II. asking for “£200 or 200 decayed oaks which are unfit for
ship timber,” from the royal forest of Sherwood towards the cost
(£300) of repairing “the Body of the Church,” which was “extremely
shaken and in a very ruinous condition,” occasioned by the fall of the
steeple, which about seven years ago “was beaten down by thunder.” The
upper portion of the steeple at any rate, probably from the pinnacles
upward, thus appears to be seventeenth century work. The blind arcades
in the upper stage of the tower are the original belfry windows, which
were built up when the spire was added. The oak beams of the old
tower roof are still in position, and appear to have been utilised
for hoisting up materials. The structural expedient for spanning the
corners of the tower to suit the shape of the spire, and known as
“squinches,” consist of concentric pointed arches in two orders, with a
corbel stone and lintel in addition. All the masonry, both inside and
outside the spire, is magnesian limestone most carefully worked. A very
tall lancet window in the west face of the lowest stage of the tower
is probably unique in that it is divided almost equally in height by a
transom. The spire was struck by lightning forty years ago, which once
more necessitated the rebuilding of the top portion.
[Illustration: Fig. 8.
SQUINCHES
EDWINSTOWE]
_Misterton._--This steeple is sometimes described as belonging to the
Early English period, but the statement is incorrect, as the spire
has no claim to antiquity. The porch at the extreme west end of the
south aisle gives entrance to the church through the tower--a very
unusual arrangement. The tower and other parts of the church are built
of fine grained magnesian limestone from the Roche Abbey district. The
lower part of the tower formed the steeple to an earlier church. It
was raised in the Decorated period to a high tower with parapet and
pinnacles. The upper portion of the tower was damaged by lightning, and
when it was rebuilt (1847–48) a broach spire of inelegant proportions
was added. The ancient appearance of this spire is due to the fact that
it is built of brown Yorkshire stone, in contrast with the white Roche
Abbey stone used in the construction of the tower.
_Gedling._--This steeple is one of the earliest examples we have of a
tower and spire of the same date. It was built about 1320, and although
it now has battlements and a pathway all round, I think it should be
classed with the broach spires. It is probably unique by reason of the
remarkable entasis, which is not an “almost imperceptible swelling,” as
the dictionaries have it, but a swelling so pronounced as to be almost
a distortion. The builders of old understood the value of an entasis
for correcting optical illusion, and either made the sloping sides of
their spires slightly convex or, at a later time, produced the same
effect by running crockets up the angles and making them larger, or of
greater projection, in the centre and diminishing them as they neared
the base and the summit (as at Louth); but here we have a divergence
from the straight line of 24 inches, and what is more remarkable still,
the cardinal faces of the tower _buttresses_ have also a similar curve.
This is not due to settlement or defective building, for the whole
structure stands as true and firm to-day as it did nearly 600 years ago.
[Illustration: GEDLING.]
[Illustration: WEST RETFORD.]
[Illustration: Fig. 9.--Gedling.]
In design and workmanship Gedling differs from any other church in
the county, and I can only suggest that it is the work, not of local
masons, but of craftsmen from some other part of the country, probably
the Nene valley. The whole of the stone was obtained from the local
quarry, which lies about three-quarters of a mile to the north of
the church--now a tree-grown hollow on the western side of the lane
leading up to Mapperley Plains. The stone, which is very tough, has
been used in blocks of enormous size. The tower, 24 feet square,
stands to the north-west of the church, and is only engaged in part
with the north aisle. This unusual position, which has the advantage
of enabling the tower to be well seen to its full height, is due to
the fact that the road passes close to the south-west angle of the
church in an oblique line and trends away to the north-west. The
walls of the tower, 5 feet thick, are carried up in three stages to a
height of 90 feet and heavily buttressed. A newel staircase, 2 feet
4 inches wide, occupies the north-west angle. It is worthy of note
that this staircase stops at an internal platform before the leads are
reached, and gives access to the bells only. To reach the pathway, it
is necessary to cross the bell frames and pass through a small doorway
on the north side. This fact alone is not conclusive, but it should
be further noticed that the parapet is not continuous, as we should
expect if it was coeval with the tower, but embattled; the merlons are
low and thin, the pathway very narrow, and the appearance altogether
is very unusual and suggestive of the work of a later period. A
careful examination of the work at the base of the spire, which rises
to a height of 180 feet from the ground, leads me to think that this
steeple was originally a pathless one, and that the cardinal faces
sprang from the top of a corbel table; but for some reason--perhaps for
purposes of observation or to facilitate repairs--the lower part of the
broaches and the sloping faces were afterwards cut away and parapets
introduced. A horizontal moulding runs round the spire 8½ feet above
the leads. The workmanship below this moulding is inferior, and the
angles of the spire, which are beautifully moulded, do not “line” with
the work above, in some cases by inches, which proves clearly to my
mind that an alteration of some kind has taken place since the spire
was built. There are no pinnacles to emphasise the corners, although
the appearance of the steeple would be greatly improved by them.
Tradition says that pinnacles were once in evidence, but they could
only have been small and insignificant, judging by the smallness of
the stools. There are canopied niches at the apices of the broaches,
each designed to contain a sculptured figure in the attitude of prayer.
The north-east niche is now tenantless. The north-west figure is worn
beyond recognition; that on the south-west represents a lady, and that
on the south-east a warrior. In consequence of exposure to the weather
for 600 years, nearly every trace that might lead to the identification
of these figures has been obliterated. It is still possible, however,
to discern indications of chain mail on the armour of the warrior, and
this is quite in harmony with the suggested date of erection.
[Illustration: NEWARK.]
[Illustration: BINGHAM.]
Spire-building reached its highest perfection in this county in the
middle of the fourteenth century, when the steeple of the parish church
at _Newark_ was completed (_c._ 1356). The lower portion of the tower
was built about 1230, but it was left unfinished until a century
later, when a celebrated school of masons, who had done much good work
in the neighbourhood, after completing the church at Grantham, came
to Newark and carried the tower up to its full height, enriched with
niches and sculptures and crowned with a lofty spire having moulded
angles, four tiers of spire lights, slender broaches with carved knots
at the apices, and a continuous perforated parapet between lofty
angle pinnacles, which are pierced to allow for a pathway all round
the base of the spire. Rickman says: “This spire deserves peculiar
attention.... On the whole, perhaps, there are no specimens superior in
composition and execution, and few equal.” It is built of Lincolnshire
oolite, and stands engaged at the west end of the church, which comes
close up to the pavement and can best be seen in its full height as
it closes the vista down one of the narrow streets of the town. But
whether viewed from this point or from the market-place, or from the
surrounding fields and lanes, it cannot fail to charm the beholder by
its gracefulness and beauty.
_Bingham._--Although this steeple is not so graceful as the one at
Newark, it impresses by its solidity and strength, and is worthy of
very careful study. It stands at the west end of the church, and
consists of an Early English tower, having walls 5½ feet thick, chiefly
built of local skerry, surmounted by a decorated broach spire of
pleasing outline, having a pronounced entasis and three tiers of spire
lights. The upper stage of the tower is pierced on each face with two
two-light windows, having deeply recessed mouldings, arched heads, and
finished with a corbel table, constructed in such a way as to suggest
that a perforated parapet (probably similar to those at Newark and
Thoroton) was anticipated, although it was never put on. The corbel
table consists of masks with ball-flower ornaments, and carved foliage
between them. The ball-flower predominates, and it is interesting to
notice the irregularity in the width of the spaces between the corbels;
in most cases two flowers suffice, while in others three are barely
sufficient. Two of the pinnacles are mutilated sculptures of bishops
in eucharistic vestments; they stand out conspicuously against the
sky at the north-west and south-west angles of the massive tower. It
is probable that in their original state the pinnacles were intended
to represent the four Evangelists, but those at the north-east and
south-east have been replaced by finials of Decorated types of foliage.
The lancet window in the buttress on the western face of the tower is
a very effective feature when seen through the tower arch from within,
being recessed with splays more than 8 feet deep.[84]
_Whatton-in-the-Vale._--This steeple differs from its neighbour
at Bingham, in that it stands above the crossing of a cruciform
church.[85] In all other respects there is a great similarity. It
was rebuilt in 1870–71, as nearly as possible on the original lines,
and with the original material. The foundation is Norman work; the
tower Early English, with plain parapet and pinnacles; the spire is
Decorated, but obviously it is not high enough to be quite effective,
in comparison with the broad tower on which it stands.
_Thoroton._--This church was struck by lightning on 27th April 1868,
and the tower and spire was thoroughly restored the same year. The
tower consists of three stages, and is finished with a continuous
parapet of open quatrefoils, supported on a bold corbel table. The
faces on the corbels are all awry, as though they were distorted with
pain. This has led to the facetious remark that the figures represent
the Ryemouth family, but I think it is more probable that, if any
meaning were intended, they are a memento of the Black Death, which had
decimated the county only a short time before this steeple was built.
Within the parapet a graceful spire rises, with three tiers of spire
lights arranged in a pleasing manner on alternate faces of the spire.
On the western side of the tower there is a fine ogee canopied niche,
with fragmentary remains of the sculptures it once contained--a very
unusual feature in this district. The steeple belongs to the Decorated
period. It is built with rubble willing, of blue lias limestone, and
dressings of skerry in the older parts, mixed with Lincolnshire oolite.
With the advent of the fifteenth century, the art of spire-building
became more general. As the knowledge of constructive principles
increased, spires were made lighter in appearance; the springing was
hidden behind a parapet, lucarnes were sparingly used or omitted
altogether, and thus was evolved the plain tapering spire of slender
proportions so familiar in villages, not only in this county, but
scattered all over the land, and apparently all built from one design.
_Wollaton_ may be taken as an example of this type. The church is
built with large blocks of sandstone of a rich yellow tint, quarried
in the neighbouring parish of Trowell, the only place in the county
where carboniferous limestone was obtained. The steeple is carried
on arches on the north and south sides, though the reason for this
is not now apparent. As the western face of the tower abuts upon the
roadway, it is possible that the public footpath once went underneath
the tower, or it may have been that the arches were made to admit of
processions round the church without going outside the consecrated
area. The steeple belongs to the late Decorated period. The tower is
finished with an embattled parapet, which projects slightly beyond the
wall line. The spire is slender, and springs well within the parapet,
having only one tier of small spire lights, which scarcely break the
sloping lines of the spire. Unlike all other spires in the county, with
the exception of Keyworth and Car Colston, the finial in this case is a
weather vane, and not the familiar weather-cock.
The following is a complete list of similar spires:--
_Attenborough._--Early fifteenth century. Steeple built of
millstone grit.
_Barton._--Early fifteenth century. Steeple built of
millstone grit.
_Cotgrave._--Early fifteenth century. Plain octagonal spire
without lucarnes, built of millstone grit.
_East Leake._--Fifteenth century spire on Early English
tower. Built of millstone grit.
_Epperstone._--Fourteenth or early fifteenth century
steeple, built of local waterstone. The top portion of the spire
was renewed in 1820 with Mansfield stone.
_Holme Pierrepont._--Fifteenth century. Built of Gedling
stone.
_Lowdham._--Late twelfth century tower, originally
detached; fourteenth century spire.
_Mansfield_ (St. Peter’s).--Norman tower (two stages).
Belfry stage and parapets fourteenth century; spire later.
Magnesian limestone.
_Stapleford._--Tower, _c._ 1250. Parapets and spire
fifteenth century. Local skerry.
_Sutton-in-Ashfield._--Steeple commenced in 1390–91,
completed 1399 by the donor, John de Sutton, Mayor and Member of
Parliament for Lincoln. Local magnesian limestone.
_Sutton Bonington_ (St. Michael’s).--Steeple fifteenth
century. Castle Donnington stone.
_Tuxford._--Early English tower in lower part, upper
portion and spire _c._ 1357. Skerry.
_Weston._--Repaired 1910.
_Wysall._--The tower is built of local lias limestone, mixed with
bands of skerry. The walls are nearly four feet thick, with buttresses
at the angles. The battlements and spire are of cleansed ashlar. The
spire, carried on corbelled squinches set low down in the tower, looks
very weak and dilapidated, and this is accentuated by the pierced
spire lights fixed high up on the sloping sides, and by the battered
weather-cock at the summit. There is no staircase, the belfry being
reached by a climbing ladder fixed within the tower. The striving after
plainness and lightness had reached its limit when this spire was built.
_Nottingham_ (St. Peter’s, _c._ 1400) might well have been included in
the foregoing list, if the spire, as it now stands, was in its original
condition, but unfortunately it has been denuded of the crockets which
were once a conspicuous feature. These crockets were cut off by a
man named Wooton, of Kegworth, who was engaged to repair the spire
in or about 1825.[86] The father of the man who committed this gross
vandalism was not only a noted spire builder and repairer, but he was
also a crank, for when he had finished his task of restoring the spire
at Kegworth, “resting on his airy perch at the summit, he played some
tunes on the French horn, while the villagers looked up in awe and
listened to the music of the spheres.”
_Bunny_ has a steeple similar to St. Peter’s at Nottingham, built
of millstone grit with crockets at the angles. These crockets are too
small to be really effective, and those near the top and on the exposed
angles to the north and east have perished to a considerable extent.
_Balderton._--The upper part of the tower and spire was added in the
fourteenth or early fifteenth century. It is evident that the work here
was influenced by the beautiful work at Claypole, just over the border,
in Lincolnshire. The crockets on the spire give it quite a Lincolnshire
appearance, while the tower is of the usual Nottinghamshire type, with
embattled parapets and corner pinnacles.
_West Retford._--This crocketed spire of beautiful design and
proportions was built of skerry (locally called Tuxford stone) during
the latter half of the fifteenth century. It will be noticed that the
upper part of the belfry stage assumes an octagonal form immediately
above the louvres, the angle buttresses being carried up vertically
so as to form pinnacles with gabled and crocketed heads. Behind each
main pinnacle a small bar of stone is carried over in the form of a
flying buttress until it reaches the face of the spire, whence it
is again carried up vertically in the form of a slender buttress or
inner pinnacle, and enriched with crockets. This treatment is very
characteristic of the period, and although it produces a graceful
effect it is quite useless from a constructional point of view, and
indicates that the decline in Gothic architecture was at hand.
_Scrooby._--A spire similar in outline and principle to that at West
Retford, but without the crockets, was built at Scrooby of stone from
Roche Abbey. These two spires form a class by themselves. They are the
only medieval spires in the northern part of the county, and appear to
have been built at the same period and by the same band of masons.
[Illustration:
THOROTON. KEYWORTH.
CAR COLSTON. UPTON.]
_Keyworth._--A steeple unique in design and construction still
remains to be noticed. It is a well-known fact that a steeple was
sometimes used as a beacon for the guidance of travellers by land or
sea. For instance, Boston “Stump” has long been a landmark for mariners
on Boston Deeps and for travellers on the broad fens. Keyworth has
a steeple traditionally said to have been used as a beacon to guide
parishioners home over the trackless lands (enclosed since 1797).
Standing on a crest of the Wolds, it is certainly a conspicuous object
for miles around, and it may well have been used on occasion for the
display of signals in time of national peril; but a careful examination
has failed to disclose any trace of a beacon fire or light ever having
been used, and probably the term “lantern” tower which is now generally
applied to it is solely due to the peculiarity of the design. The tower
was built at the west end of the church, the walls on the north and
south sides being carried on pointed arches. The subsequent extension
of the north and south aisles so as to enclose the tower thus enabled
the whole of the west end of the church to be used as a schoolroom,
and it was so used until 1820. The tower is 17 feet square at the
base, with flat buttresses at each corner, panelled and gabled in a
manner quite unusual in this district. There are indications that the
parapet was originally embattled, but the merlons and pinnacles were
removed some time during the past century. Within the parapet rises
a smaller tower 11 feet square, with a stone pathway all round it 2½
feet wide, composed of large “through” stones, laid across the top of
the main walls. (No lead is used.) These “through” stones project over
the walls, and are long enough to form a corbel table outside and an
over-sailing course inside to carry the walls of the lantern. About
six feet above the pathway the lantern takes an octagonal form, the
squinches consisting of two plain over-sailing courses in each angle,
covered with a stone which may originally have been a low broach, but
it is now worn almost level by exposure to the weather. The octagonal
lantern is finished with gargoyles and an embattled parapet, and
surmounted by a short stone spire. Each cardinal face of the lantern is
pierced with two louvred openings, 3 feet high by 9 inches wide in the
octagonal part, and four openings 3 feet high by 11 inches wide in the
lower part, the pathway round the spire being reached from the belfry
through one of these on the north side. The openings are very unusual
in character, being plain rectangles without mouldings or cusps, but as
they occur just above the bells, and are louvred, they were undoubtedly
intended to let out the sound. The walls are built of millstone grit
from the Castle Donnington district, backed in with local rubble,
blue lias limestone, skerry, and in some places with brick. It is
difficult to determine the date of erection. The detail of the upper
portion seems to indicate an earlier period than the lower portion,
which obviously could not be the case, and the whole fabric suggests a
French origin. Probably 1400 is an approximate date.
_Car Colston._--The lower stage of this tower was built in the Early
English period with rubble walls of lias limestone and dressings of
local skerry. In the fifteenth century it was raised to be a lofty
tower with parapets and pinnacles, and surmounted by a low octagonal
roof or spire of Ancaster stone of very unusual form, and unlike any
other spire in the county.
_Upton._--At Upton there is a fifteenth century tower with a cluster of
eight pinnacles round the parapet, and a large crocketed pinnacle--an
incipient spire--set in their midst on the crown of the stone barrel
vault which forms the roof of the belfry. The effect of this is
peculiar rather than graceful, and the method of construction is
unsound in principle, for, as might have been expected, the great
weight of the spirelet has caused the vaulting to spread and push the
tower walls out of the perpendicular.
There is a diminutive steeple at Cossall of the ordinary fifteenth
century type. This church was entirely rebuilt in 1842.
The spire at Scarrington was rebuilt and the tower restored in 1896.
The description given by Sir Stephen R. Glynne in 1866 still applies:
“The tower is Decorated, rather heavy, and has flat buttresses which
may be Early English.... The belfry windows are large but mutilated.
The parapet is plain, the spire octagonal without ribs, having two
tiers of spire lights set in the same sides.”