The parish church in Knowle, a village near Birmingham in the West Midlands, was consecrated in 1403.
It is built from the local red sandstone and has some pretty impressive gargoyles on the outside:
The real high point for me, however, is inside. There is an oak rood screen from the late 15th century, beautifully carved, in front of the altar. This one is missing the crucifix and Holy Family figures that would normally be found on such a screen (the name 'rood' comes from the Old English word for a crucifix), but the decorative carving on it is still well worth seeing.
I must apologise for the quality of some of the shots as my little automatic camera struggled with the low light levels but I hope they give some idea of the quality of the decorative carving:
There are also choir stalls in the church with carved misericords, but unfortunately I didn't get a photo of them. Here's an image of one of the carved stall ends though:
There are a few other carved oak pieces in the church. I don't know if they are contemporary with the rood screen (I certainly suspect that the carved angels on the organ screen are later) but the work is also of a very high standard:
Next to the church stands the Guild house, which dates to 1412 and makes a suitably picturesque neighbour:
You can read more about Knowle Parish Church and the Guild house by following this link:
