Barton-in-Fabis
St George

Stonework

The present building dates largely from the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.

The chancel, supported by a rectangular buttress in the centre of each of the N and S walls, with a diagonal buttress at each angle, is built of large blocks of fine grained sandstone, most likely brought from local Triassic sandstone sources. This sandstone has a distinctive cross-bedded structure with common iron concretions in the stone; this stone weathers and erodes fairly quickly in geological terms – the walls are in need of repair and there are clear cracks in some of the window mouldings.

The nave is made of the same stone; the quoins and buttresses are made, for strength, of the best quality sandstone available (Castle Donington or Weston upon Trent) and show fewer signs of wear. There is a plain sandstone parapet.

Graffito on south aisle pier

Inside the church, the pier arcade of four bays is also built of sandstone. They are octagonal piers with double-chamfered arches. On the west side of the base-moulding of the eastern pier is graffito: Hic fuit Henricus Chilom.

The west wall is only roughly built of undressed sandstone, apparently as a temporary measure.

The tower was then added, using very large ashlared blocks of high quality Castle Donington or Weston upon Trent medium to coarse grained sandstone, with its eastern wall built close up to the west wall of the nave. There are two rectangular buttresses at NW and SE angles. The parapet is embattled. There is an octagonal spire, with a small light in each cardinal side. In all, the tower and spire measures 93 feet high.

The semi-circular stair turret at the NE angle of the tower is of sandstone, with an embattled parapet.

The porch, added in 1693, is of similar stone, perhaps from Gedling.

Some repair work here and there has been done using a harder Carboniferous, Millstone Grit Group sandstone with a pinkish hue, most likely from Birchover Quarry in Derbyshire.

Gill mentions “a square block of magnesian limestone, with a mason’s stop worked at each corner” – it has not been possible to confirm this although there is some limestone present there.