Information for record number MWA6316:
Church of St Mary, Manor Court Road, Nuneaton

Summary The Parish Church of St. Mary, built largely during the Imperial period but which incorporates the Medieval remains of the Priory Church. It is situated east of Manor Court Road, Nuneaton.
What Is It?  
Type: Church, Nave, Chancel
Period: Modern - Modern (1236 AD - 2050 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Nuneaton and Bedworth
District: Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 35 92
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Scheduled Monument (Grade: )
Listed Building (Grade: II)
Sites & Monuments Record
Picture(s) attached

 
Description

 
Source Number  

6 Church, incorporating the remains of a Benedictine nunnery. Fragments of late 12th century and 1236-1238. Nave rebuilt 1876 by Clapton Rolfe. Chancel rebuilt 1906 and north transept 1929-1931 by Sir Harold Brakespear. Sandstone rubble with limestone ashlar dressings, and some brick. Slate roofs have coped gable parapets. Chancel, nave, north transept. Romanesque style nave, Early English style chancel and transept. Four-bay chancel, four-bay nave. Splay and moulded plinths. Chancel and transept have geometrical tracery and moulded cornices throughout. Chancel has buttresses to all sides, and subsidiary buttresses below five-light east window. Gable parapet has cross finial. North and south sides have two-light windows. Rood loft stair projection on south side rises into short octagonal turret. crossing south wall of brick has two plain arched windows. Transept of two large bays has angle and west buttresses. Datestone 1929 in east wall. Three-light south east window. Large bricked-up arch to an unbuilt east chapel. Large four-light north window. South west doorway of three moulded orders, one with nook-shafts, and double-leaf doors projects slightly. Springing for vaulting and roof of unbuilt porch. Three-light north west window. Hood moulds throughout. Nave occupies four of the original six bays. Pilaster buttresses and corbel table. Moulded windows with nook shafts are set high up. West front of plain brick has small porch with segmental-arched casement and plank door in right return side. Small round window high up. Small timber bellcote. Low 12th century walls of fifth and sixth bays remain; the others remains as ruins. Interior: chancel has Early English style arcading, of two bays to left and right of reredos, blind to north, and forming piscina and sedilia to south. Trefoil panelling below windows. Four-bay hammer beam roof has wall shafts and corbels, and shaft between second and third bays. crossing has remains of massive compound piers, with responds of four orders of detached and attached shafts. Early English east piers and much restored chancel arch. 12th century west piers; southern pier has two original capitals. 20th century queen post roof. Nave has triple wall shafts between bays. All but western bay have blind arcading of intersecting arches. Windows have triple rere arches with paired shafts and wall passages. Transept has bricked-up arch of two orders to unbuilt chapel. wall shafts, arches and springing for unexecuted vaulting. Scissor-braced roof. Fittings: traceried oak rood screen and rood dated 1921. Traceried octagonal font. 20th century reredos.
1 The Church of St Mary incorporates ancient remains of the Priory Church. The nave was rebuilt in 1876, the chancel in 1906 and the North transept in 1931.
5 A programme of building recording was undertaken prior to the consolidation of masonry within the Church. The walls were surveyed in April 2005, to record their profiles, and a photographic record was made. Further photographic recording took place in the summer of 2005.
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 4, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1947
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 4
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Buildings of England: Warwickshire
Author/originator: Pevsner N and Wedgwood A
Date: 1966
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Warwicks
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Nuneaton
Author/originator: The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin
Date: 1986
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Serial
Title: West Midlands Archaeology Vol 57
Author/originator: CBA West Midlands
Date: 2015
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: No 57
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Serial
Title: West Midlands Archaeology vol 48
Author/originator: S Watt (ed.)
Date: 2005
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Scheduling record
Title: Priory of St Mary, Nuneaton
Author/originator: English Heritage
Date: 1991
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
A view of the ruins of Nuneaton Priory and St Mary's Church
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 1900s
Click here for larger image  
 
St. Mary's Abbey Church, Nuneaton
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 1960s
Click here for larger image  
 
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
none Scheduled Monument Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) are those archaeological sites which are legally recognised as being of national importance. They can range in date from prehistoric times to the Cold War period. They can take many different forms, including disused buildings or sites surviving as earthworks or cropmarks.

SAMs are protected by law from unlicensed disturbance and metal detecting. Written consent from the Secretary of State must be obtained before any sort of work can begin, including archaeological work such as geophysical survey or archaeological excavation. There are nearly 200 SAMs in Warwickshire.
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designation Listed Building Buildings and structures, such as bridges, that are of architectural or historical importance are placed on a statutory list. These buildings are protected by planning and conservation acts that ensure that their special features of interest are considered before any alterations are made to them.

Depending on how important the buildings are they are classed as Grade I, Grade II* or Grade II. Grade I buildings are those of exceptional interest. Grade II* are particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Those listed as Grade II are those buildings that are regarded of special interest.
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period Modern The Modern Period, about 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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period Medieval 1066 AD to 1539 AD (the 11th century AD to the 16th century AD)

The medieval period comes after the Saxon period and before the post medieval period.

The Medieval period begins in 1066 AD.
This was the year that the Normans, led by William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087), invaded England and defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in East Sussex.
The Medieval period includes the first half of the Tudor period (1485 – 1603 AD), when the Tudor family reigned in England and eventually in Scotland too.

The end of the Medieval period is marked by Henry VIII’s (1509 – 1547) order for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the years running up to 1539 AD. The whole of this period is sometimes called the Middle Ages.
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period Imperial 1751 AD to 1914 AD (end of the 18th century AD to the beginning of the 20th century AD)

This period comes after the Post Medieval period and before the modern period and starts with beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. It includes the second part of the Hannoverian period (1714 – 1836) and the Victorian period (1837 – 1901). The Imperial period ends with the start of the First World War in 1914.
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period modern About 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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monument SHAFT * Use only if function unknown, otherwise use specific type. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument ARCH * A structure over an opening usually formed of wedge-shaped blocks of brick or stone held together by mutual pressure and supported at the sides; they can also be formed from moulded concrete/ cast metal. A component; use for free-standing structure only. back
monument TURRET * A small tower or bartizan, which was often placed at the angles of a castle, to increase the flanking ability, some only serving as corner buttresses. Also used to describe the small rectangular towers situated between the milecastles along Hadrians Wall. back
monument BENEDICTINE NUNNERY * An abbey or priory for nuns ofthe Benedictine order. back
monument PARISH CHURCH * The foremost church within a parish. back
monument PRIORY * A monastery governed by a prior or prioress. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, FRIARY, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument ABBEY * A religious house governed by an abbot or abbess. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument PIER * A structure of iron or wood, open below, running out into the sea and used as a promenade and landing stage. back
monument PISCINA * A perforated stone basin usually built into the wall of a church on the south side of the altar. Used for carrying away the ablutions (wine and water used to rinse the chalice, and wash the priests hands after communion). back
monument MANOR * An area of land consisting of the lord's demesne and of lands from whose holders he may exact certain fees, etc. back
monument FONT * A vessel, usually made of stone, which contains the consecrated water for baptism. Use a broader monument type if possible. back
monument CHAPEL * A freestanding building, or a room or recess serving as a place of Christian worship in a church or other building. Use more specific type where known. back
monument HAMMER * A machine in which a heavy block of metal is used for beating, breaking or driving something. back
monument ROUND * A small, Iron Age/Romano-British enclosed settlement found in South West England. back
monument CROSS * A free-standing structure, in the form of a cross (+), symbolizing the structure on which Jesus Christ was crucified and sacred to the Christian faith. Use specific type where known. back
monument WALL * An enclosing structure composed of bricks, stones or similar materials, laid in courses. Use specific type where known. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record