St Edmund

The church of ST. EDMUND consists of a chancel 31 ft. by 19¾ ft., nave 51 ft. by 27½ ft., west tower 12½ ft. deep by 9 ft. wide, and a small timber north porch. These measurements are all internal.

The history of the church is simple, as it has never been enlarged since it was built about the year 1120. Larger windows were inserted in the south wall of the chancel and also on either side of the nave in the 14th century, c. 1320. The tower is about 120 years old; marks of fire on the northwest buttress of the nave suggest that the former tower was destroyed by fire. The church was restored in 1848, when new windows were inserted in the east wall of the chancel, the north and south walls of the nave, and in the west wall of the tower; at the same time the flat ceiling which then existed was removed.

The east window is of four lights under a pointed head, and below its sill externally is a shallow buttress of 12th-century date. There are shallow clasping buttresses at the angles, the upper parts being of brick. The side walls of the chancel are divided into three bays by similar buttresses; in the first and second bays on the north side and in the second on the south are the round heads of the original 12th-century windows, but the jambs have been cut away to widen the lights at a later period. The first intermediate buttress on the south side has been cut away and an early window filled in to make room for the 14th-century window, which is of three lights under a pointed head. The walling of the chancel is of lias stone with wide joints plastered over outside. The former east wall was of brick. The chancel arch is semicircular, and of two square orders, the rebate being carried down on the east side only, while the jambs are plain and square on the nave side, and the simple abacus is continued to the side walls.

The north-east and south-east windows of the nave are 14th-century insertions of three lights under twocentred arches. The north doorway is round-headed and of two square orders with a chamfered string at the springing; the outer order is set in an ashlar projection, which is continued up to the old eaves level. It has an arcade of two round-headed bays in the upper part, the shafts having scalloped or cushion capitals. A cross cut in the eastern jamb of the doorway may possibly be a consecration cross. The south doorway has been filled in with brick; it is of two round-headed orders; the inner is square and the rollmoulded head of the outer order was carried by jamb shafts, of which the cushion capitals remain, but the shafts have gone. Over the doorway is a similar arcade to that on the north side, but with lozenge and zigzag enrichments cut on the abaci. The two western windows are modern insertions. The side walls are divided into three bays by shallow buttresses and have clasping buttresses at the angles, splayed off below the old roof line. Near the tops of the buttresses are string-courses variously enriched. The present eaves of the nave are about 18 in. higher than the former ones, and on the east faces of the north-east and south-east buttress is another string, below the last mentioned, the use of which is doubtful. The tower is of three stages, the lowest of lias stone, perhaps old material re-used, and the upper two of brick. The archway opening into the nave is of the full width of the tower with a semicircular arch of two square orders springing from a chamfered abacus. The stair turret rises in the south-east corner. The west window is a three-light insertion of 1848 and the bell-chamber is lighted by single lights on the north, south and west. The parapet is plain and has a stone coping and small angle pinnacles. The gabled roofs are modern, that of the chancel being of a lower pitch than formerly. The walls inside are plastered.

All the furniture is modern except the font, which dates from the erection of the church; it is cut from one block 2¾ ft. wide by 2⅓ ft. high, and is round on plan, with sides tapering to the base. It is moulded at the base and near the top. There are several gravestones and monuments in the chancel; one dated 1679 to William Acton has the words 'Pray for his soule,' an unusual form for the date; they also occur on the slab to another person of the same name, dated 1725. Other slabs are to Barbara Vincent, who died in 1702, and William Acton, 1721. In the nave passage-way below the chancel arch is a stone to Alianor Desmasters, who died in 1667, and outside by the south doorway is a defaced mural slab. In the tracery of the south chancel window are some pieces of ancient painted glass. To the south of the chancel hang a sword and a funeral helmet with the crest of an arm holding a sword piercing a boar's head; a hatchment below bears the arms of William Acton. The same arms are carved on the 1679 gravestone.