Averham

St Michael and All Angels

Newark Archdeaconry

Newark and Southwell Deanery

Introduction

St Michael and All Angels, Averham (pronounced 'Airham’) has a considerable amount of counter-pitched masonry in its walls pointing to an early Norman or Anglo-Saxon date. Recent investigations have proved that an early phase of the tower can be dated to c.1000 and it seems likely that it was originally either a tower-nave with a now lost section of the church lying further west or a two storied western porch.

The chancel was lengthened in the first half of the 14th century, a south porch added to the nave c.1500 and the tower altered by the addition of crenallated parapet with eight pinnacles and four buttresses about the same time. A mausoleum for the land-owning family was added to the north of the chancel in the late 18th century; this was converted to an organ-chamber and vestry in 1875.

The church was renovated towards the end of the nineteenth century, and remarkably had a father and son who held the rectory between them for nearly ninety years. Averham is now part of the Riverside group of parishes, which consists of Averham, Bathley, Kelham, Little Carlton, North Muskham, South Muskham and Staythorpe.

Particular thanks to Patricia Gregory, Sheila Stevens, Dr Chris Brooke,
Peter Ryder and Andy Nicholson for research on this entry