St Martin's Church, Preston Gubbals

St Martin's Church is a

St Martin's originated as a chapel of ease,^[1] and what now remains was the chancel of a medieval parish church.^[2] It was probably altered in the 14th or the 15th century.^[1] In 1866 a new church was added to it, and it became the south aisle of that church.^[2] This enlargement was designed by Samuel Pountney Smith, and cost £1,600 (equivalent to £160,000 in 2021).^[3] In 1973 most of the work carried out in 1866 was demolished, leaving a single-cell building.^[1] The arcade of the 1866 building has been retained, it has been blocked, and forms the north wall of the present building.^[4] A bell formerly in the church is now the Sanctus bell in St Alkmund's Church, Shrewsbury. It was cast in 1720 by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester.^[5] The church was declared redundant on 1 June 1973, and was vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 14 November 1974.^[6]

Architecture

Exterior

The building is constructed in sandstone with a tile roof. The nave and chancel form a single cell. The south side of the church contains two buttresses, three square-headed windows with two or three lights, a round-arched priest's door from the 12th century, and a 19th-century doorway. On the north side is the former nave arcade in three bays into which 20th-century three-light windows have been inserted. At the west end are round-arched windows, and a doorway that formerly led to the tower staircase. The east end contains a two-light window.^[1]

Interior

Many of the carved wooden fittings were made by Rev E. D. Poole, the vicar of the church in the 19th century. These include the altar table and the

• Plaque to Flora Constance Kelly, missionary wife of a former Rector, who died a victim of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.
• Roll of Honour to men of the parish who served in World War I.
• Stained-glass window in south wall to Lance Corporal William Williams, Welsh Guards, killed in action in World War I in 1918, as well as to Edward and Marie Williams and Stephen Lacey, all three men said to be longstanding friends.^[7]

External features

In the churchyard is a sundial that was originally a churchyard cross. It is dated 1638, is octagonal and is constructed in sandstone. It consists of a chamfered base and two steps, on which is a baluster and a copper dial plate. It is listed at Grade II.^[8]

The churchyard contains a war grave of a soldier of World War I.^[9] Also buried in the churchyard, within a family grave, are the ashes of Archdeacon the Earl of Cavan (died 1950), a chaplain veteran of the same war.^[10]

The parish war memorial, in the form of a marble cross listing the dead from both World Wars, including a local World War I soldier named Martin Luther (ironic in a war against Germany), stands in the churchyard.^[7]

See also

• List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in the English Midlands
• Grade II* listed buildings in Shropshire Council (A–G)
• Listed buildings in Pimhill

References