CHURCH TRAMP: Throckmorton Chapelry, Worcestershire

Having disparaged five of the seven churches in the aforementioned benefice (see previous post) my sense of guilt and balance drives me to write flatteringly about the two churches that were open that day. And so I came to a jewel in an ecclesiastical crown that is Throckmorton Chapelry.

The name Throckmorton (a family name) comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Throc (which means drain) so this is really Morton’s Drain. Mee goes even further and writes that “it is said to derive from a stretch of water with a wooden platform for washing.” [1] Really? Washing what? He is also somewhat dismissive of the hamlet saying just two sentences later, “The only feature of the place is the church.” Historically he is inaccurate for there is a splendid Tudor house, now Court Farm, and two ancient moats. There are also excellent examples of timbered cottages, as well as the typical Worcestershire red brick. And for those who like poking around WW2 sites there is the adjacent airfield which was RAF Pershore . Built in 1940 it was a base for Wellington bombers, housed Vulcan bombers in the 1960s, and remains partially operational. On a diocesan note, until the Victorian age Throckmorton was in the parish of Fladbury to the south, but boundaries and pairings have all changed many times. And there was and is no saintly dedication.

The church, which carries the title of Chapelry (i.e. It was annexed to a primary parish church), is approached over a modern cattle grid with wooden side gate, and up an unpaved track lined beautifully with young trees. All around is farmland and the noise of hens and sheep drown out the birdsong! And because beasts and fowl roam this glebe that is without clearly defined paths let the pilgrim or visitor be warned. There are perils underfoot. Everywhere.

The church of THROCKMORTON consists of a chancel 12½ ft. by 16 ft., a central tower 11½ ft. by 13½ ft., a nave about 45 ft. by 17½ ft., and a small south aisle 4½ ft. in width. These measurements are all internal. [2] The first sight of the building is one of those “Wow!” moments, for the tower is central and it’s immediately apparent that this is ancient stone. In fact much of the building is 13^th century, but even that was a “later” building. Damp-proofing work, the bane of all clergy and PCCs, revealed earlier stone foundations. And county archeologists have identified a Saxon village on higher ground and a possible wooden church site. So this is an old Christian site indeed.

As if we needed more proof of antiquity there are records of monks at “a minster” (Fladbury? Pershore?) sending priests here in AD 697.

This is a beautifully ordered church. The font is of uncertain pedigree, plain and plastered over, and has been moved at least once from its original soak-away drain. Mee says it is “thought to be Norman, altered at a later time.” [3] There is clear evidence of a pre-Reformation rood screen, as well as doors and windows being closed up over centuries. The medieval chancel is quite magnificent with two Tudor chairs and a small piscina of trefoil design on the south wall. (And no, it didn’t hold flowers!) And the place is light – there is no stained glass.

Three gems? Firstly the tower itself, about which a history book could be written about its changes over time. Second the four gargoyles on the upper storey of the tower – the 15^th century belfry. One of a monkey, one of a monster, one of a man with a very large nose (said to be a bishop!) and one of a lion. (There is also a corbel of a man’s face now resting on a window ledge, the victim of a zealous puritan.) Sadly my limited camera that day could not capture these high carvings so you’re just going to have to take my word for it!