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South Worcestershire

South WorcestershireWorcestershire once had more abbeys and priories than any other county, and three of them – Great Malvern, Little Malvern and Pershore – are included in this cluster of churches. These are impressive buildings, framed by the county’s famously hilly southern and western landscapes. At the other end of the visual scale are delightful churches in village settings such as Elmley Castle and Besford.

Great Malvern Priory of St Mary and St Michael

Why visit: England’s best collection of medieval glassWhere: Church Street, WR14 2AY; open weekdays

When the priory was founded in the 11th century, this part of Worcestershire was a densely wooded forest, probably as remote as anywhere in England at that time. The natural landscape of the Malvern Hills is still an important component in the look and feel of the priory and the town, with the slopes of the hills a prominent visual backdrop.

The remoteness probably helped to preserve the priory’s treasures in the years after the Dissolution in the 16th century; elsewhere, wonderful stained glass of the kind still seen here was smashed as it was considered to be ‘popish’, or superstitious.

The core of today’s priory church – all that is left of what had been a monastic foundation – is the Norman architecture

Beckford St John the Baptist

Why visit: Norman doorways with enigmatic carvingsWhere: Main Street, GL20 7AD

This limestone church stands in an attractive village on the eastern slopes of Bredon Hill. It comprises a central tower, nave, chancel and porch. The nave is

that can be seen in the nave and in the blocked south doorway. But much of the building we see now dates from a major rebuilding that happened in the last half of the 15th century.

The chancel, together with its enormous east window, probably dates to around 1440. The tower was complete by 1460. Work went on until 1500 and later to transform the priory church into a building on a par in some ways with Gloucester Cathedral.

Barely 40 years later Henry VIII’s Dissolution brought a complete change. The townspeople bought the church for £20, while the rest of the priory buildings were either leased or sold off, often to be demolished.

Between 1540 and the 19th century very little work was done to maintain or repair the church, which meant that much that might otherwise have been ‘modernised’ or removed was left in place. Between 1860 and 1915 an huge amount of repair and restoration work took place, including repairs to the stained glass.

And it is the stained glass that is the finest treasure at Great Malvern: it is among the finest collections of medieval glass in England. It can be seen in many of the windows, particularly the east window, the chancel clerestory, St Anne’s Chapel, north transept and west window. It was installed between 1450 and 1501. Scenes include several with Mary at their centre, the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus, and Old Testament stories. Renowned figures of the time are shown, some dead, some living. These include Prince Arthur and Henry VII.

Many other wonderful things can be seen in the church, including medieval stalls and misericords, a remarkable collection of medieval wall and floor tiles (made in kilns near the priory), and many monuments.

This page: The Priory at Great Malvern (left), and its superb stained glass (above).

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Central england

Besford St Peter

Why visit: Woodwork of many kinds from many centuriesWhere: St Peter’s Lane, WR8 9AP

At first glance, Besford’s little church looks Victorian, as indeed are the neat wooden-framed and shingled bellcote and the chancel. But a closer look at the sides of the nave shows it to be timber-framed, and this 14th-century structure is unique in Worcestershire.

Inside the theme is wood: from the roof, to the pews, pulpit and altar rails; from the walls – panelled using old pews – to the beautiful, original medieval rood loft. Wood features too in one of the monuments – that to Richard Harwell of Besford Court, who died in 1576

Croome d’Abitot St Mary Magdalene CCT

Why visit: An attractive ‘period piece’ and a telling illustration of 18th-century architectural and landscaping trendsWhere: In Croome Park, off the A38 or A4104 (M5 junction 7), WR8 9DW

The 6th Earl of Coventry, of Croome Park, clearly kept up with the times and subscribed to (or perhaps helped set) the trend for sweeping away the old. In the 1750s, he replaced his Jacobean house, commissioned Capability Brown (his first landscape assignment), demolished the old church and built this one instead.

Completed in 1763, the new hilltop church in Bath stone was one of Brown’s planned ‘eye-catchers’, and an early and successful attempt at Gothic Revival. It would have been designed to resemble an elaborate, almost fantastical medieval church, when seen from a distance.

The airy Georgian Gothic interior, like that of the earl’s new house, was by Robert Adam. Slender quatrefoil piers lead up to an elliptical vault with moulded plasterwork and coving. Decorative ogee-shaped plasterwork frames give the windows and chancel arch a gothic touch. Note the elegant pulpit, on a slender stem and with an elaborately carved tester. The chancel serves as a mausoleum to the Coventry family, and includes a number of ornate monuments from the old church.

Elmley Castle St Mary

Why visit: Norman carvings and other early details; 17th- and 18th-century memorialsWhere: Parkwood, Elmley Castle, south-west of Evesham, WR10 3HT

The ‘castle’ – long since ruined – in the name of this lovely village was that of the Beauchamp family and once stood

Little Malvern St Giles

Why visit: Impressive building in a spectacular setting, with many medieval features remaining unalteredWhere: Beside the A4104 on the eastern side of the Malvern Hills, WR14 4JN

Although a sandstone tower and chancel are the only remaining parts of the priory church here, they make an imposing building, set against a wooded slope of the Malvern Hills, with the Severn valley away to the east. The priory was founded in the 12th century, but the Perpendicular features of the present church date from a

This page: Beckford tower (left); Little Malvern’s St Giles (above).

Norman, and has two excellent Norman doorways. The southern one is better preserved, protected by a 15th-century porch. Its tympanum is particularly interesting, with a carving of a cross, above which are a circle and a bird, and flanked by two strange creatures. As so often, the meaning of these symbols and creatures is open to interpretation. The Norman north doorway is weathered, but shows the Harrowing of Hell.

There is further Norman stonework on the chancel tower arch, with zig-zag decoration, and also with human heads and a centaur. Among the furnishings are a number of 15th-century bench-ends and a font of about the same date.

aged 15. His alabaster effigy is surrounded by a wooden lattice. And there is a painted wooden triptych in the nave. It dates from the end of the 16th century, and its panels shows scenes that are reminders of the passage of time and the inevitability of death.

just above the church, on the north slopes of Bredon Hill. The Beauchamp coat of arms appears on the 15th-century font. From the outside, St Mary’s appears to be of the same period, with its battlements and its Perpendicular tower, north transept and porch. But a look inside the porch reveals fragments of Norman carvings – a pig and a rabbit – that betray the building’s much earlier origins, and the chancel’s outside walls have herringbone masonry that is probably from the 11th century.

Two fine monuments are in the north transept. One is a dignified memorial to William Savage, who died in 1616. It features his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, all carved in loving detail. Opposite, in contrasting style, stands the huge early 18th-century pedimented tomb of the first Earl of Coventry, with his wigged effigy framed by marble columns and allegorical figures.

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South Worcestershire

Also in the area

Churchill St Michael CCTWhy visit: Tiny, atmospheric medieval village church

Evesham St Lawrence CCT Why visit: 16th-century church with Victorian and later stained glass

Pershore Abbey (HolyCross and St Eadburgha)

Why visit: Magnificent abbey churchWhere: Church Row, WR10 1BL

It seems incredible that this soaring church, which is still glorious both inside and out, should be a mere fragment of the one that once stood here. The abbey of today comprises only the chancel, south transept and crossing tower, now supported by great buttresses where once the Norman nave stood.

The building carries distinct echoes of two English cathedrals: the tower is similar to Salisbury’s and the 13th-

century arcades to those of Wells. This was one of only three Norman churches in England to have been fully vaulted in stone – though two fires in the 13th century destroyed the original barrel-vault and the tower, which was rebuilt in 1330. The chancel arches and vault were replaced in Gothic style, contrasting superbly with the Norman crossing.

Look up inside the tower to see an extraordinary piece of design by Sir George Gilbert Scott, who restored the abbey in the 1860s. Instead of a belfry floor, there is a suspended platform high inside the lantern, so that the inside of the tower, with its beautiful traceried panelling, is visible from below.

Ripple St Mary

Why visit: Lovely setting; fine set of 15th-century misericordsWhere: Station Road: on the eastern edge of Ripple village, off the A38 leading north from junction 1 of the M50, GL20 6HA

The distinctive appearance of the church in this village near the River Severn is due mainly to the contrasting balustraded top section of the tower. An 18th-century afterthought in sandstone, it looks surprisingly attractive on the large 12th- and 13th-century cruciform building of much paler lias stone.

Inside, the highlight is the choir stalls, installed for the canons of Ripple’s mother church, Worcester Priory, who would have taken services here. The set of 16 misericords is a medieval country calendar, depicting the labours of the months and the four elements, including a charming one of the man in the moon.

Wickhamford St John the Baptist

Why visit: Picture-book setting, with interesting associationsWhere: Sally Close, at the north end of Wickhamford, off the A44 south-east of Evesham, WR11 7SD

Wickhamford’s handsome limestone church makes a wonderful composition with the large half-timbered manor house next door, bought in 1549 by the Sandys family. It had formerly been a grange of

1480s rebuilding by Bishop Alcock of Worcester after he visited the priory to investigate its poor state.

The exceptional east window still has most of the glass that was installed at that time to commemorate the church’s restoration. It depicts members of the family of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, reflecting Bishop Alcock’s royal appointments: he was president of the royal council and Chancellor of England. Other medieval work that survives in the priory includes locally made tiles, the choir stalls and screen, and some re-set roof bosses.

Evesham Abbey. It later became the home of George Lees-Milne, who restored the church in 1949, and his son James, the architectural historian and conservationist, who was a leading light of the National Trust in its early days.

A previous restoration in the 17th century gave the church much of its character and its furnishings, but the core is 13th- and 14th-century. A medieval wall painting survives in the chancel, where there is also a 17th-century memorial to Sir Samuel and Sir Edwin Sandys and their wives. Father and son both died in the same year, 1623.

This page: The amazing soaring interior of Pershore Abbey (left); St John the Baptist at Wickhamford (above).