St Bartholomew, Tong, Shropshire

St Bartholomew, Tong, Shropshire
Originally uploaded by ChurchCrawler

Now I had been here before, but Janet spotted this (how can you miss it by the main road?) and wanted to see it. Good choice, but I needed a long time to photograph all the church has - so maybe she regretted it! Some of my pics consequently were a bit hurried, but I am glad we stopped here too as it was more splendid and more interesting than I remembered. Cruciform, around a rather awkward tower, square below, octagonal above and with a short recessed spire. All Perp, C15 except for the exuberant "Golden Chapel" an outer bay to where one would expect a transept. Look a little closer and several of the pinnacles have been replaced by C18 obelisks! Inside and the architecture is really incidental to the many and varied tombs and effigies, and the splendid woodwork, of the chancel in particular. There is too much to describe in detail, but the highlights for me were the fan-vaulted golden chapel, and a precious survival on a misericord, a figure of the Virgin with a vase of lilies in which is a miniature Crucifixion scene.