Beaudesert - St Nicholas
I always used to imagine this was the church of some rural central Warwickshire village when I first read about it, as Beaudesert was always accorded it's own entry as such in every gazetter type book on the county, including Pevsner. It is therefore bizarre to discover the church sits strangely close to it's neighbouring parish church, St John's in Henley in Arden, in fact a mere one hundred yards east of it; each is easily visible from the other, barely a stone's throw apart, and separated only by the narrow River Alne.
St Nicholas's is nowadays treated as Henley in Arden's second church and the two are united as part of a team parish, practically shared between the same congregation. It is the smaller of the two buildings, but architecturally and historically arguably the more important, with much of the present structure dating back to the Norman period, and still clearly showing in the structure of the chancel and the magnificent (if somewhat restored) south doorway.
The bulk of the building is in fact 12th century work except for the west tower, which is entirely 15th century Perpendicular and not fully aligned with the rest of the building. One of the most noticeable features is the way the chancel rises above the nave, to take into account the sloping site the church is built on. The east window has fine Norman decoration similar to that of the south door.
The bulk of the building is in fact 12th century work except for the west tower, which is entirely 15th century Perpendicular and not fully aligned with the rest of the building. One of the most noticeable features is the way the chancel rises above the nave, to take into account the sloping site the church is built on. The east window has fine Norman decoration similar to that of the south door.
The interior is long, somewhat dark and tunnel-like, and rises towards the east. The focal point is the beautiful chancel arch, another fine example of Norman craftsmanship. though it appears oddly off-centre; it seems that this could be the result of a later rebuilding of the north nave wall, with the old fabric reused, and brought in several feet. A similar situation occured in the north aisle at Wolvey church, where the aisle was made narrower to allow the recycling of old, shortened roof timbers after a collapse of it's roof in the 17th century, could something similar have occured here? The roof itself dates from the Victorian restoration so it is impossible to say for sure. Certainly it seems decent timber was at times so difficult to procure that it was easier to move walls than source new pieces of the desired length! The west tower arch is even more seriously out of alignment, with both the current dimensions of the nave amd the original Norman axis of the chancel, but here more likely the result of a less ambitious budget construction rather than a later alteration.
The richly decorated chancel arch is the real architectural showpiece here, along with the contemporary chancel beyond it that has survived complete without later alteration other than a 14th century window enlargement on the south side. The vaulted ceiling however dates only to the 1865 restoration by Thomas Garner, but looks entirely at home with the original work, specifically the pilasters and corbels that support it which seem to have been designed to carry a structure like this, thus it is most likely that the Victorian masonry has finally completed the original 12th century builder's vision, which may have been constrained by budget.
The furnishings are mostly Victorian or later, save for a couple of simple 15th century bench ends with coats of arms. The stained glass is entirely Victorian and most importantly includes some early work by the studio of William Morris.
The furnishings are mostly Victorian or later, save for a couple of simple 15th century bench ends with coats of arms. The stained glass is entirely Victorian and most importantly includes some early work by the studio of William Morris.
The east window has the earliest stained glass and is the work of William Holland of Warwick, very rich colours with tiny figures in medallions c1845. The much larger west window under the tower is by William Wailes of Newcastle, apparently contemporary with the nearby east window of St John the Baptist in Henley as the figures are very similar. It dates from 1875; the south chancel window by the same studio could be earlier. The two small windows on the north side of the chancel could be by F.Holt of Warwick c1890.
The most significant glass here by far however is in the remainder of the windows on both sides of the nave, fairly early work by Morris & Co dating from 1864-5. All of the windows are quite restrained by their later standards, with isolated figures on decorative backgrounds of painted quarry glazing, deliberately light and subtle in palette to avoid darkening the interior. There were probably a mixture of of designers involved in creating the cartoons for the figures, Edward Burne Jones playing the biggest role and possibly also William Morris himself, as the figures here are more reminiscent of the earlier Pre Raphaelites, particularly D.G.Rosetti whose influence is most apparent in their earlier work.
Three of the windows portray pairs of saints, with SS Peter & Paul and SS Nicholas & George on the south side, and the Virgin Mary & a dramatic Archangel Michael battling a weird dragon at the north west corner. The remaining two north windows have small figures of angels against ornamental roundels.
Three of the windows portray pairs of saints, with SS Peter & Paul and SS Nicholas & George on the south side, and the Virgin Mary & a dramatic Archangel Michael battling a weird dragon at the north west corner. The remaining two north windows have small figures of angels against ornamental roundels.
St Nicholas's is a rewarding church, well worth visiting for it's Romanesque features and Pre Raphaelite stained glass. It is normally kept open and welcoming like it's sister church a short distance along the pavement in Henley, though I sadly must add a note of caution having found it inexplicably locked on my most recent visit (thus I was forced to rely on my 2006 photos of the interior for this entry). Hopefully this was bad timing on my part and is the exception rather than the rule.
Aidan McRae Thomson 2012
Aidan McRae Thomson 2012