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Church of St Swithin, Ganarew

Coordinates: 51°50′37″N 2°41′04″W / 51.84356°N 2.68442°W / 51.84356; -2.68442
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Church of St Swithin, Ganarew

The Church of St Swithin is a parish church in Ganarew, south Herefordshire, England. The parish church is dedicated to St Swithin,[1] although the 1868 National Gazetteer notes a dedication to St Luke. The parish is within the Church of England Diocese of Hereford, and the church is a Grade II listed building.[2]

History

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Giles Rawlines served as rector in 1624.[3] Tamalanc, a son of Brychan, may be the same person as Tiuinauc (or Tywinauc or Tywannog), a patron saint connected with the Church of St Swithin's history.[4] The church was rebuilt in about 1850 by John Prichard, a noted church builder and restorer of the Victorian period.[5] The church required the expensive restoration because of the failing foundations.[6]

Architecture and fittings

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The church is of the English Gothic architectural style, described by Pevsner as Middle Pointed or Decorated Period,[7] and by Historic England simply as Decorated.[8] It is built of sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings and a tiled roof. The nave has windows with hoodmoulds. They have cusped ogee-headed lights and spandrels. The bellcote has similar cusped ogee-headed openings and a small spire with decorative lucarnes.[8]

The reredos inside the church forms the village war memorial, a sculpture in white marble featuring the figure of Christ accompanied by two angels.[9]

Grounds

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Bannerman family memorial

The graveyard contains a Gothic pinnacle[7] memorial to the Bannerman family who lived nearby at Wyastone Leys. The medieval churchyard cross is a scheduled ancient monument.[10] There is also a war grave of a Royal Engineers soldier of World War I.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Ganarew: St Swithin, Ganarew" at achurchnearyou.com
  2. ^ "Church of St Swithin, Ganarew" at britishlistedbuildings.co.uk
  3. ^ University of Oxford; Foster, Joseph (1891). Alumni Oxonienses: L-R (Public domain ed.). Parker and Co. pp. 1235–. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  4. ^ Orme, Nicholas (9 March 2000). The saints of Cornwall. Oxford University Press. pp. 242–. ISBN 978-0-19-820765-8. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  5. ^ Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England); Crawford, David Lindsay (1934). An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire. H. M. Stationery off., printed by William Clowes & sons, ltd. p. 96. Retrieved 25 March 2012. Parish Church of St. Swithin, was entirely rebuilt in 1850...
  6. ^ Freer, Richard Lane (1863). Charges delivered to the clergy of the archdeaconry of Hereford (Public domain ed.). J. Head. pp. 140–. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  7. ^ a b Pevsner, Nikolaus (1963). Herefordshire. Yale University Press. pp. 134–. ISBN 978-0-14-071025-0. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  8. ^ a b Historic England. "Church of St Swithin, Ganarew (Grade I) (1099453)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Remembering The Great War" by Ray Westlake, November 2001, at hellfirecorner.co.uk
  10. ^ Historic England. "Churchyard Cross in St Swithin's Churchyard (1016117)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  11. ^ [1] CWGC Casualty Record.
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51°50′37″N 2°41′04″W / 51.84356°N 2.68442°W / 51.84356; -2.68442