St Swithun's Church, Clunbury

St Swithun’s Church stands in the quiet Shropshire village of Clunbury, beside the river Clun. Built of local limestone under slate and stone-slate roofs, it is an active Anglican parish church with a west tower, nave, chancel, south porch and organ chamber. The tower’s lower stage belongs to the late 12th century, while its top was added in the 17th century. A Norman doorway opens from the timber-framed south porch, and a 17th-century sundial marks the south wall. The churchyard holds war graves from the Second World War and the grave of the writer Leonard Arthur Bethell. The building’s long history is visible in its fabric. It began as a 12th-century chapel of ease, gained parochial status in 1341, and was enlarged in the 14th, 15th and 19th centuries. James Piers St Aubyn restored the church in 1881 and added the timber-framed porch. Inside, the nave roof dates from 1494–95, the 12th-century font survives, and stained glass by Hardman and Kempe fills several windows. A Nicholson organ installed in 1882 and a ring of six bells, one from 1620, remain in use. Visitors enter through the Norman west doorway now leading into the tower. The nave’s south wall shows a trefoil-headed piscina and a 1920 Kempe window. The chancel’s east window carries 19th-century Perpendicular tracery, and the north walls preserve further Norman windows. A spiral staircase installed in 2021 gives ringers access to the belfry, while modern facilities occupy the converted vestry. The churchyard’s peaceful slopes frame views of the Clun valley and the surrounding hills.