St Michael's Church, Cotham

St Michael's Church, Cotham
St Michael's Church, Cotham, from the south-east
St Michael's Church, Cotham Location in Nottinghamshire
Coordinates: 53°01′12″N0°49′03″W / 53.0200°N 0.8175°W / 53.0200; -0.8175
OS grid reference	SK 794 476
Location	Cotham, Nottinghamshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Churches Conservation Trust
History
Dedication	Saint Michael
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	16 January 1967
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic
Groundbreaking	12th century
Completed	1890
Specifications
Materials	Stone, tile roofs

St Michael's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Cotham, Nottinghamshire, England. The building dates back to the 12th century.

Status and position

The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, ^[1] and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. ^[2]

The church stands in a now isolated position in a field, set well back from the road. ^[3]

History

St Michael's Church originated in the 12th century, with additions and alterations in the 14th and 15th centuries. ^[1] The tower and the west part of the nave were demolished in the later part of the 18th century. ^[2] The church was partly rebuilt in about 1832 and the bellcote added in 1890. ^[1] Though the church was declared redundant on 23 August 2004 and vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 19 December 1989, it continues to be used occasionally for worship. ^{[3] [4]}

Architecture

Exterior

The church is constructed in coursed stone rubble with ashlar dressings, and it has a tiled roof. Its plan consists of a nave and a chancel under a single roof, a south porch, and a bellcote at the east end. The bellcote has a pyramidal roof. Along the sides of the church are buttresses. At the west end is a two-light window. The north wall contains a door and two three-light windows, and in the south wall there are four three-light windows. The east window also has three lights. ^[1] Some of the windows contain Decorated tracery, and in others the tracery is Perpendicular. ^[2] Above the entrance to the porch is a coped parapet, and a stone inscribed with 1830. ^[1]

Interior

Inside the church, to the east of the door is a 14th-century piscina. ^[1] In the west wall are five corbels. The upper two are plain and suggest the position of a former gallery. The lower three have medieval carvings of faces. ^[2] The font is octagonal and dates from the 14th century. Also dating from the 14th century are two memorials in the south wall that are partly hidden by the wall and the raised floor. ^[1]

External feature

On the east side of the church is a 19th-century rubble stone wall containing iron gates and re-used 14th-century gargoyles. This is designated as a Grade II listed edifice. ^[5]

See also

• List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in the English Midlands
• Grade II* listed buildings in Nottinghamshire
• Listed buildings in Cotham, Nottinghamshire

References

1. Historic England, "Church of St Michael, Cotham (1178419)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 9 April 2015
2. St Michael's Church, Cotham, Nottinghamshire, Churches Conservation Trust , retrieved 29 March 2011
3. Saint Michael's Cotham, United Benefice of Farndon with Thorpe and Hawton with Cotham, archived from the original on 19 July 2011, retrieved 24 November 2010
4. Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham: All Schemes (PDF), Church Commissioners/Statistics, Church of England, 2011, p. 1, retrieved 7 April 2011
5. Historic England, "Wall, gates and gargoyles to Church of St Michael, Cotham (1046030)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 9 April 2015