St Swithun's Church, Clunbury

St Swithun's Church, Clunbury
St Swithun's Church, Clunbury, from the southeast
St Swithun's Church, Clunbury Location in Shropshire
Coordinates: 52°25′13″N 2°55′35″W / 52.4202°N 2.9265°W / 52.4202; -2.9265
OS grid reference	SO 371 807
Location	Clunbury, Shropshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	St Swithin, Clunbury
History
Dedication	Saint Swithun
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	21 March 1968
Architect(s)	James Piers St Aubyn (restoration)
Architectural type	Church
Style	Norman, Gothic, Gothic Revival
Specifications
Materials	Limestone
Administration
Parish	Clunbury with Clunton
Deanery	Clun Forest
Archdeaconry	Ludlow
Diocese	Hereford
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Canon Paul G. Wignall

St Swithun's Church is in the village of Clunbury, Shropshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Clun Forest, the archdeaconry of Ludlow, and the diocese of Hereford. Its benefice is united with those of St Mary, Bedstone, St Cuthbert, Clungunford, St Mary, Clunton, and St Edward, Hopton Castle. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

The church originated in the 12th century as a chapel of ease to St George's Church, Clun, achieving parochial status in 1341. Additions and alterations were made to it in the 14th and 15th centuries. There were further alterations in 1842, and in 1848 when the organ chamber was added. The church was restored in 1881 by James Piers St Aubyn, including the addition of a timber-framed south porch.

St Swithin's is constructed in limestone and roofed in slate and stone slate. Its plan consists of a three-bay nave, a chancel, a south porch, a south organ chamber, and a west tower. The tower probably dates from the late 12th century, with its top stage added as late as the 17th century. It has a west door, and an 18th-century sundial in the south side. The bell openings are louvred and arched, the parapet is battlemented, and the tower is surmounted by a pyramidal cap and a brass weathercock. On the south side of the church is the timber-framed porch leading to a Norman doorway. To the right of the porch is a Norman window. The other windows on the south side of the nave are Decorated in style. Also in the south wall is an external tomb recess containing a tomb-slab carved with a cross. The south organ chamber has a west doorway. The three-light east window of the chancel contains 19th-century tracery in Perpendicular style. The north wall of the chancel contains a Norman-style window, and there is another Norman window in the north wall of the nave.