St. Mary Handsworth - The Interior

A view of the nave showing the different heights of the arcades

Having explored the exterior of St. Mary's church in Handsworth in early April, it was another 5 months before I got access to its interior, when a flower festival had been arranged to coincide with the Heritage Open Days event.

A floral display in the south aisle

Once inside the church, its Victorian restoration is very evident, with all of the walls in the nave and aisles being plastered and painted, with only the arcades, window dressings and the arches to the tower and chancel revealing the stonework.

A view inside the chancel

The oldest part is the north arcade, with its alternating octagonal and circular columns being transitional in style between the Norman and Early English Gothic periods, but this was raised in 1833 to accommodate a new gallery in the nave.

A general view of the north arcade

The south arcade is much lower and was added in 1904, along with the south aisle, and the sandstone masonry is uniform throughout. Although I didn't examine any of the stones closely, this contrasts strongly with the north arcade, where the masonry in the columns is very patchy and reflects a phase of rebuilding.

A general view of the south arcade

The chancel arch was inserted in 1870, to match the height of the tower arch and it is notable for being constructed in alternating buff and red sandstones for the responds and voussoirs. Although quite dirty, and a close examination is needed on a fresh surface, my first impression was that this was another use of Rotherham Red sandstone.

A detail of the chancel arch

In the chancel, the arch to St. Katherine's chapel, a squint with a piscina, a sedilia and various other details reflect the style of the early English Gothic period - and there is also a blocked Norman door, whose view from the exterior is obscured by a large bush.

A view through the squint

The various memorials scattered around the walls of the church of St. Mary the Virgin date back to 1791 - and alabaster, Italian white marble and green breccia are just a few of the decorative stones that can be found here.

A detail of a war memorial