Old St Bartholomew's Church, Lower Sapey

Old St Bartholomew’s Church stands on a steep bank above a stream at the end of a winding lane near Lower Sapey in Worcestershire. It is a small sandstone church with a simple plan: a nave, a chancel and a south porch. The church dates from the early 12th century, though traces of an earlier building were recorded in the Domesday Book. In the 14th century a south porch and a new window were added to the chancel. During the 19th century the church was altered again, windows were widened and a west gallery installed. The church is listed Grade II* and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It was neglected after a new church took over its functions in 1877 and was used as a farm building. Since 1990 repairs have been carried out by a local trust called The Friends of Old St Bartholomew’s. The work aimed to restore the church so that it appears unchanged. In 1994 it was placed in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Inside, the plastered walls show traces of medieval paintings on the north side of the nave. Two square aumbries and a piscina survive in the chancel. The west gallery has been reinstated, and the remnants of a circular font base remain. The Norman font bowl was moved to the new church. Outside, the south porch has a Norman doorway with a single order and a tympanum. The east window is a single light under a pointed arch, while the chancel’s south window has two trefoiled lights under a square head.