Historic Church Tours 2021: Master Craftsmen of Worcestershire & Warwickshire
Experience spectacular craftsmanship and striking interiors on this tour.
Please note all tours will be assessed for Covid safety in line with any Government directions that apply at that point in time with full refunds available in the event of cancellation.
We begin the tour at the magnificent St Lawrence’s, Evesham, a church of Norman foundation but largely rebuilt in the 18th century. Once you step inside the true extent of detailed craftwork is revealed. Coloured light reflects throughout the chancel from the breath-taking stained glass windows that dominate the east wall. Depicting the last supper and the resurrection, they were designed by some of the most celebrated stained glass artists of the last 150 years. Take in the intricately patterned fan vaulted ceiling of the 16th-century chapel of St Clement. This beautiful space has richly panelled arches and houses a simple and elegant 15th-century font.
From Evesham we travel to Billesley to the next church of All Saints’. Originally built in the late 11th or 12th century, by 1428 only four parishioners were left. In 1692, Bernard Whalley rebuilt the church to create a fashionable classical addition to his Billesley estate. Keep an eye out for the brass plaque commemorating his wife Lucy and the original octagonal font. Despite Whalley’s rebuild some remains of the early church survive, in particular the two spectacular twelfth-century stone carvings, which you can see on the east wall of the vestry. One, a richly decorated tympanum, shows a soldier in a kilt, a snake, a dragon and a bird, all surrounded by wonderfully twisted foliage. The other is part of a stone cross on which is a carved figure of Christ holding the hand of another person. All Saints’ sits in a beautiful wooded churchyard and tradition says that William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway here in 1582.
The next stop will be St Michael & All Angels’, Brownsover, another 12th century church, this one almost entirely rebuilt by Sir George Gilbert Scott, prolific English Gothic Revival architect. Unlike Scott’s other work the church was unusually sympathetically restored, rather than replaced with Scott’s favourite Decorated style. The church is filled with beautiful woodwork including a spectacular organ case, made in 1660 for St John’s College, Cambridge.
Our final church, St John the Baptist, Avon Dassett, was built in 1869 by a pupil of George Gilbert Scott: Charles Buckeridge. With its soaring spire this Victorian church is a masterpiece in 14th century Gothic style.