Mora Church (in ruins) — Moorstown (mora Par.)

On level ground, at the N end of a gentle ridge in gently undulating terrain, in pasture. Castle Blake tower house (TS069-058----) is visible 1.5km to the WNW. The church is enclosed by a sub-rectangular graveyard (TS069-060004-) and a holy well (TS069-060002-) is located 70m to the SE. According to Power (1938, 66) the patron saint of the church was St. Nicholas of Myra and it has been suggested that 'Mora' is a corruption of Myra. A large nave (ext. dims. 9.5m N–S; 17.4m E–W) and chancel (ext. dims. 7.45m N–S; 5.25m E–W) church with a crossing-tower (ext. dims. c. 9.35m N–S; 4.95m E–W). It is constructed of limestone rubble, roughly coursed with limestone quoins, except at the SE angle of the nave which has chamfered sandstone quoins. The base quoin, now displaced, terminated the chamfer with a broach stop with horizontal bar. There are quite a number of putlog holes which continue through the thickness of the wall. There is a robbed-out base-batter on the E gable (H 1.2m; Wth 0.35m) and a base-batter on the N (H 1.2m; Wth 0.2m) and S (H 0.8m; Wth 0.3m) wall of the crossing-tower but not on the N and S walls of the chancel or the S wall of the nave. There is a slight base-batter (H 1m; Wth 0.05m) on the W gable. The E gable (wall T 1.1m) and N wall (H 3.4m) of the chancel survive relatively intact, only the E end of the S wall survives. The chancel was lit by three windows, an E window which is completely broken out and opposing windows on the N and S wall which though not completely surviving appear to have been long narrow lancets within widely splaying internal embrasures. The E gable is narrower (wall T c. 0.8-0.85m) above wall head level (H 3.7m above int. ground level). Slightly S of centre in the E gable there is a partially broken-out flat-headed recess and there is an aumbry at the E end of the S wall and at the E end of the N wall. The crossing-tower is slightly wider than the chancel and slightly narrower than the nave. At ground level the S wall of the crossing-tower is largely destroyed. The E side of the crossing-tower is supported on springers which rise from the side walls of the church while the W side is separated from the nave by a high pointed arch. There were opposing high narrow windows in the N and S wall, though of the S window only the W embrasure partially survives. Under the N–S barrel vault of the crossing-tower there may have been a loft supported on a wooden floor, perhaps giving access to a rood. The crossing-tower is at least one storey high above the vault though the E wall has collapsed, the NE angle, N, S and W wall all appear to at least partially survive. Much of the E half of the vault has collapsed. The exterior of the tower is heavily ivy clad. The church was entered through a doorway W of centre in the S wall (T 0.92m) of the nave. The doorway and most of its surrounding wall are missing, though the draw-bar hole survives in the wall on the E side. The N wall of the nave is completely levelled and only fragments of the W gable survive. There are the remains of two window embrasures in the S wall of the nave, both survive in poor condition, one near the W gable and the other near the crossing-tower. There is an aumbry at the E end of the S wall which may have functioned as a piscina for a side chapel. There is quite a lot of rubble in and around the church, among which part of a limestone dripstone was identified, as well as a sandstone corbel. The presence of a number of graveslabs (TS069-060005-; TS069-060006-; TS069-060007-; TS069-060008-; TS069-060009-) which appear to date to the 13th/14th century would suggest a similar date for the church itself. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 28 September 2011