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History and Tour of our Church
Officially called 'The Church of St Mary the Virgin'.
 The
Domesday survey of 1087 mentions a church here and some
parts of the nave walls probably survive from before
that time. However, the doorways and windows have all
been renewed since then and we see a chancel of about
1300, with transepts added after that, with nave window
even later. The North West corner of the nave has some
'long and short' work which is a feature of the Saxon
period, but there is insufficient of it to be confident
of it's date.
The Tower:
Lightning struck the tower in 1881 and did such
extensive damage that it and the nave roof had to be
entirely rebuilt. A massive buttress on the North side
is the only part of the old tower to survive. The
present tower is built with brick corners and window
surrounds, with the old stones re-used in a mortar
matrix. In the tower walls large lumps
 of
carrstone are found mixed with conglomerate and other
stones. This was an important area for iron smelting in
Saxon times and the conglomerate was derived from this.
The other stones are from the layer of greensand, which
occurs here next to the chalk subsoil.
The architect:
The job of rebuilding the tower was given to Mr Milne of
London, who used an 18th century design, completing this
and other improvements by 1893. There are three bells
fitted with a rather inadequate chiming device. Only
one bell is generally rung by means of a conventional
rope.
The new porch:
The new porch was added to the tower with Peter Codling
as Architect, and Ray Birch as builder. The two white
stones seen inserted into the inside wall of the porch
were found in the Church's West wall during construction
of the present doorway. They are of Caen stone, and are
derived from a roll moulding around some long lost
feature. The large corner stones on the left of the new
church entrance are part of the old West corner of the
nave.
The font:
 This
is a very special feature of this Church. It is over
800 years old, carved out of a massive block of Purbeck
marble, and polished on top. The eight legs are closely
set, very substantial and rough, with individual bases.
Another column in the centre is for the drain. On each
corner there is a curious head with prominent eyes and
beak-like nose. Between is an omega design deeply cut.
It is thought to have been made by the same craftsmen as
the celebrated fonts at Toftrees, Sculthorpe, and
Shernborne. Two modern wooden font covers have been
made for it.
The West gallery:
This
has a distinctive front with interlacing Norman arches
and pillars made in wood in the nineteenth century for
St Matthew's Church at Thorpe, in Norwich. Some more of
this fine workmanship has been used around the base of
the ladders in the tower. Notice the variation in
design on the cushion capitals including two heads.
The Staffordshire tiles:
The tiles
in the nave floor are floor are interesting because a
blank one near the organ has been set upside-down to
show the maker's name; "Garrett Brothers of Brownhills,
Burslem, Staffordshire".
The Transepts:
 Transepts
give the nave a new dimension. The West wall of each
transept is splayed to link the extra space of the
transept to the nave with good effect. The North
transept contains a two manual organ built by R.A. Bower
& Co. of Wroxham, Norfolk, installed in 1990 after a
serious fire which destroyed the old Cartwright organ,
and did much damage to the church, although fortunately
it did not quite damage the structural elements
particularly in the roof.
The South transept has a piscina with a beautiful pair
of small finely carved heads of a gentleman and his
lady, presumably the donors of the transept. The South
transept window was colour-glazed in 1926 and shows us
the Annunciation. The angel
Gabriel is on one knee addressing the Blessed Virgin
Mary, and her reply "Be it unto me according to thy
word". In the centre, Mary wears a blue robe, holding
her symbol of a white lily in one hand, and the child
Jesus who himself holds an orb. On the right Joseph and
Mary worship the baby Jesus and the text says
"Generations shall call me blessed".
The Vestry
The vestry on the North side of the chancel was made in
1951 out of a former mausoleum for the Hamond family.
(You can see the family name in many floor slabs all
over the Church). The family crest is a dove perched on
a rock with an olive branch in its beak. Seven slabs of
the 18th century were found near the font. The 19th
century burials were in the mausoleum. The family now
(2002 AD) seems to have faded out of this part of
Norfolk.
 Ancient
Bier
An ancient bier is kept in the old porch where it is
safe from damage and also out of the way (!). It has
been on exhibition twice in the 1990's. Once at the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and also to the
Museum of the Way of Death in Kassel in Germany. It was
beautifully illustrated in their fine colour booklet.
It has a cage-like cover and texts are inscribed on the
rails. At each end are painted an hour glass and a
skull. It was given by the Rector, Henry Kidson, in
1611.
Chancel:
The Chancel has a large lancet on the North side behind
the chancel arch and a 'Y' tracery window on the South
side, both suggesting a date near 1300. The South East
window design matches the sedilia hood which is
particularly fine.. The piscina has a smooth bowl with a
drain at the back, and is included under the same canopy
as the three stepped seats of the sedilia. The chancel
'weeps' to the North.
Altar Tomb
The altar tomb in the sanctuary is a particularly early
one. It has a polished Purbeck
 marble
top studded with fossil shells. The inscription is on
the East side, and it reads: "Thomas Winde, Armiger
Obiit Sexto die IVNII AD 1603", and is identified by
its heraldry which is for Sir Thomas Thames Winde,
Knight, who died in 1601. His crest is a griffin's head
erased.
A marble memorial on the North wall of the nave is for
the Rev. Horace Hamond, DD, who died in 1815, aged 60
who is buried in Bath Abbey
To view more images from St Mary's Church, visit our
Photo Gallery. |
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