Barton Church of St Michael (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Barton.
In the historic county of Westmorland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Westmorland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY48552642
Latitude 54.62983° Longitude -2.79536°

Barton Church of St Michael has been described as a probable Fortified Ecclesiastical site.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Nave and central tower, C12; south aisle and arcade, mid C13; north aisle, arcade and south chapel, c1300; chancel, tower arches and chapel arch, early C14. Brooke writes "the buiders of this church undoubtedly had security in mind."

Parish Church of St. Michael (Plate 75) stands in the N. part of the parish. The walls are of local sandstone rubble with dressings and ashlar of the same material; the roofs are slate-covered. The Central Tower and Nave were built in the 12th century. The Chancel was re-built in the 13th century, and rather after the middle of the same century the S. arcade was built and the South Aisle added; c. 1280–1300 the N. arcade was built and the North Aisle added. About 1300 the South Chapel was added, overlapping the tower, and early in the 14th century the chancel was largely re-built and extended to the E.; probably at the same period the tower-arches were re-built and widened and the tower probably reduced in height. In the 17th century the South Porch and Stabling, N. of the tower, were added and the chancel heightened. The church was restored in 1904 and the S. wall of the chancel has been largely re-built, probably in the 17th century. (RCHME 1936)

Nave and central tower, C12; south aisle and arcade, mid C13; north aisle, arcade and south chapel, c1300; chancel, tower arches and chapel arch, early C14. West and north windows, and south-east chapel window, early C16; south porch, stabling to north of tower, part of chancel south wall and roof, C17; vestry and some restored tracery to south windows, c1904. Dressed stone with ashlar dressings and slate roof. Coped gables and catslide roofs to aisles and chapel. Most windows of paired round-headed lights, 3-light window to south aisle, and 3-light east and west windows. Squat tower has paired bell openings and plain parapet. South porch has elliptical arch with key and panel bearing Lowther arms to gable; inner entrance is round-headed, of 3 orders. The church occupies a site on a mound with a circular churchyard which suggests earlier origins. (Lake District HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1326830
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 19639.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Matthew Emmott's Castle Blog
  Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Brooke, C.J., 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (Edinburgh; John Donald) p. 303-4
  RCHME, 1936, An inventory of the historical monuments in Westmorland (HMSO) p. 35- no. 1 plan online transcription

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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