Pendock Church
Encyclopedia
Pendock Church is a redundant
Anglican
church standing to the southeast of the hamlet of Sledge Green in the parish
of Pendock
, Worcestershire
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
. It stands in an isolated position overlooking and to the north of the M50 motorway
. To its north are the earthworks of a former medieval
village.
in the Churches Conservation Trust on 1 November 1987.
rubble
and has a tiled roof. Its plan consists of a two-bay
nave
with a north porch, a chancel
with a roof at a lower level than the nave, a vestry
to the north of the chancel, and a west tower. The nave measures 37 feet (11.3 m) by 18 feet (5.5 m), and the chancel 18 feet (5.5 m) by 12 feet (3.7 m). The tower is in three stages. In its lowest stage are diagonal buttress
es, and a two-light west window; in the stage above is a thin rectangular window. The upper stage contains a two-light louvred
bell opening on each side, and at the top is a parapet
behind which is a pyramidal roof. The porch is timber-framed
and the round-headed inner doorway is decorated with carvings, including chevrons. Also in the north wall of the nave is a two-light window under a pointed head. The south wall of the nave has two two-light windows between which is another round-headed doorway that is plain rather than decorated with carving. The south and east walls of the chancel each have a two-light window.
ed. Above and to the left of the chancel arch are fragments of wall painting. In the chancel is a piscina
with a triangular head. The communion rails dated from the 17th century and have turned baluster
s, and the pews contain linenfold
panels. There are boards in the nave painted with the Lord's Prayer
and the Creed
. Under the tower are tiles with the Ten Commandments
and the names of the churchwarden
s of 1851. The font
dates from the 10th century; it is plain and simple, with a circular bowl on a circular base. The organ is a chamber organ of unknown date that was restored in 1978 by Nicholson & Co
of Worcester
. It is thought that Sir Edward Elgar
may have played this organ. The ring
consists of four bells. The oldest is dated 1686 by an unknown maker, there are two bells by Abel Rudhall
, one cast in 1745 and 1753, and the fourth, originally of 1745 was recast in 1908 by H. Bond of Burford
. The church plate includes a paten
and flagon dated 1740, a bread knife with a silver handle of 1750, and a cup dated 1766.
Redundant church
A redundant church is a church building that is no longer required for regular public worship. The phrase is particularly used to refer to former Anglican buildings in the United Kingdom, but may refer to any disused church building around the world...
Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church standing to the southeast of the hamlet of Sledge Green in the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Pendock
Pendock
Pendock is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the county of Worcestershire, England, situated about halfway between Tewkesbury and Ledbury.Pendock has two churches, a shop, and a primary school...
, Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust
Churches Conservation Trust
The Churches Conservation Trust, which was initially known as the Redundant Churches Fund, is a charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk, those that have been made redundant by the Church of England. The Trust was established by the Pastoral Measure of 1968...
. It stands in an isolated position overlooking and to the north of the M50 motorway
M50 motorway (Great Britain)
The M50 is a motorway in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, England. It is long and is sometimes referred to as the Ross Spur. It is the only motorway-class road in Herefordshire.-Route:...
. To its north are the earthworks of a former medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
village.
History
The church dates from the 12th century. Alterations and additions were made to it in the 14th century, and again in the 15th century when the west tower was built. The church was vestedVesting
In law, vesting is to give an immediately secured right of present or future enjoyment. One has a vested right to an asset that cannot be taken away by any third party, even though one may not yet possess the asset. When the right, interest or title to the present or future possession of a legal...
in the Churches Conservation Trust on 1 November 1987.
Exterior
It is constructed in sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
rubble
Rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...
and has a tiled roof. Its plan consists of a two-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with a north porch, a chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
with a roof at a lower level than the nave, a vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
to the north of the chancel, and a west tower. The nave measures 37 feet (11.3 m) by 18 feet (5.5 m), and the chancel 18 feet (5.5 m) by 12 feet (3.7 m). The tower is in three stages. In its lowest stage are diagonal buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es, and a two-light west window; in the stage above is a thin rectangular window. The upper stage contains a two-light louvred
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
bell opening on each side, and at the top is a parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
behind which is a pyramidal roof. The porch is timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
and the round-headed inner doorway is decorated with carvings, including chevrons. Also in the north wall of the nave is a two-light window under a pointed head. The south wall of the nave has two two-light windows between which is another round-headed doorway that is plain rather than decorated with carving. The south and east walls of the chancel each have a two-light window.
Interior
The nave and chancel ceilings are plasterPlaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
ed. Above and to the left of the chancel arch are fragments of wall painting. In the chancel is a piscina
Piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium...
with a triangular head. The communion rails dated from the 17th century and have turned baluster
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
s, and the pews contain linenfold
Linenfold
Linenfold is a simple style of relief carving used to decorate wood panelling with a design "imitating window tracery", "imitating folded linen" or "stiffly imitating folded material". Originally from Flanders, the style became widespread across Northern Europe in the 14th to 16th centuries...
panels. There are boards in the nave painted with the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
and the Creed
Creed
A creed is a statement of belief—usually a statement of faith that describes the beliefs shared by a religious community—and is often recited as part of a religious service. When the statement of faith is longer and polemical, as well as didactic, it is not called a creed but a Confession of faith...
. Under the tower are tiles with the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
and the names of the churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
s of 1851. The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
dates from the 10th century; it is plain and simple, with a circular bowl on a circular base. The organ is a chamber organ of unknown date that was restored in 1978 by Nicholson & Co
Nicholson & Co (Worcester) Ltd
Nicholson & Co Ltd is a company that manufactures pipe organs.The Nicholson's were a family of organ builders originating from Rochdale, Lancashire in the North of England. When John Nicholson moved to Worcester in 1841 he obtained permission from the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral to...
of Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
. It is thought that Sir Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
may have played this organ. The ring
Ring of bells
"Ring of bells" is a term most often applied to a set of bells hung in the English style, typically for change ringing...
consists of four bells. The oldest is dated 1686 by an unknown maker, there are two bells by Abel Rudhall
Rudhall of Gloucester
Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 produced over 5,000 bells. The business was founded by Abraham Rudhall and the earliest ring of bells he cast was for St Nicholas' Church, Oddington in 1684. He came to be...
, one cast in 1745 and 1753, and the fourth, originally of 1745 was recast in 1908 by H. Bond of Burford
Burford
Burford is a small town on the River Windrush in the Cotswold hills in west Oxfordshire, England, about west of Oxford, southeast of Cheltenham and only from the Gloucestershire boundary...
. The church plate includes a paten
Paten
A paten, or diskos, is a small plate, usually made of silver or gold, used to hold Eucharistic bread which is to be consecrated. It is generally used during the service itself, while the reserved hosts are stored in the Tabernacle in a ciborium....
and flagon dated 1740, a bread knife with a silver handle of 1750, and a cup dated 1766.