St Nicholas, Blakeney
St Nicholas | |
---|---|
St Nicholas Church, Blakeney | |
52°57′4″N 1°1′29″E / 52.95111°N 1.02472°E | |
OS grid reference | TG 032 435 |
Location | Blakeney, Norfolk |
Country | United Kingdom |
Denomination | Church of England |
History | |
Status | Parish church |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation | Grade I listed |
Designated | 1959 |
Architectural type |
|
Administration | |
Province | Canterbury |
Diocese | Norwich |
Deanery | Holt |
Parish | Blakeney |
St Nicholas is the
Much of the original church furniture was lost in the Reformation, but a late-Victorian restoration recreated something of the original appearance, as well as repairing and refacing the building. The Victorian woodwork was created to match the few older pieces that remained, or to follow a similar style; thus, the new wooden
History
Foundation to 1547
St Nicholas is the
Domesday recorded an early church at Snitterley, but its location is unknown, and it may not have been the present site of St Nicholas.[4] There are scheduled monument and Grade II listed ruins of a medieval building in the salt marshes north of the present town described as "Blakeney Chapel", but, despite the name, it now seems likely that this was a domestic dwelling rather than a religious edifice.[5][6][7] Another possible chapel site east of the Glaven was shown on an 1835 map, but there is no documentation to support that identification.[8]
The nearby
The original building on the present site was constructed in the late 13th or early 14th century,
Blakeney gained its
Reformation and after
The
By 1717, the local population seems to have been very homogeneous in terms of belief: "Persons, servants included, above the age of sixteen, the men chiefly sea-faring are supposed to be rather above three hundred. Papist none. Protestant dissenter none".[22] Nevertheless, in 1854 there were Non-conformist chapels of three denominations, of which only the Methodist remains.[23]
The church was originally constructed of flint with stone dressings,[24] but was substantially refaced with knapped flint in the 1880s; the tower was restored at the same time. A wall was built behind the altar in 1886 to create a separate sacristy for storing vestments and other items. The west tower was restored again in 1989, and the current doors to the sacristy were added in the same year.[2]
Electric lighting was installed in 1938 and an outer door for the north porch added in 1962.[25] Major renovations were carried out from 1981 to 1983; these comprised repairs to the north aisle roof and the east tower, plastering and limewashing of the chancel, replacement of the old electrical and heating systems, and minor work on the organ.[18] The most recent round of restoration was the 2000 reflooring of the nave, installation of a vestry, toilet and kitchen, a new heating system with a detached boiler house, and reglazing of the north porch. Because of the remoteness of the altar from the congregation, a second altar was erected between the parclose screens (extensions forward from the ends of the rood screen) to enable a more intimate celebration of the Eucharist.[26] St Nicholas was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1959, which recognizes it as a building of exceptional interest.[24]
The benefice has expanded during the long history of its church.
Description
St Nicholas, Blakeney, is a large Gothic parish church with an aisled nave, a deep chancel of two bays, a large tower at the western end, and a smaller tower at the eastern end, to the north of the chancel. The north porch was rebuilt in 1896.[18]
The west tower is surmounted with
The nave is 30 m (100 ft) long and 14 m (47 ft),[33] and is separated from the aisles on north and south sides by arcades of six bays. It is lit by Perpendicular windows, each aisle bay window having four lights apiece, with three-light windows in the clerestory above.[2] The nave's oak and chestnut hammerbeam roof dates from the 15th century, and features carved angels on the hammers. These rest on arched braces, except above each window, where the hammers rest on corbels instead. The only trace of the earlier 13th-century nave is the reuse of some older stone, mainly in the north aisle,[2] and the raised chancel walls, and some Purbeck Marble fragments beneath the west tower.[18]
The Lady Chapel in the south aisle and St Thomas' Chapel in the north aisle were dedicated to
The 13th-century chancel has two rib vaulted bays, making it one of only six extant Early English vaulted chancels.[34] Its walls were raised in the 15th century by constructing a chamber above the vaulting using stone from the demolished 13th-century nave,[18] but, from the outside, this end of the church is still lower than the western section. Internally, the chancel vault is much lower than the adjacent nave because of the room above. It has three 15th-century Perpendicular windows down each side,[2] and is notable for the unusual east window with seven stepped lights, a feature found in only two other Early English churches,[35] Lincoln Cathedral and St Martins in Ockham.[16] The chancel contains three simple sedilia, or priest's seats, with trefoil arches and round columns. The sacristry behind the altar has a small lancet window,[2] and the chamber above the chancel, which is floored only by the curved upper surface of the vault below,[36] is lit by a single two-light window.[2]
The polygonal eastern tower has stepped buttresses at its corners and louvred belfry windows just below the parapet.[2] Its origins are not entirely clear, but it was possibly originally a turret for stairs leading to a room over the chancel, later extended upwards as an aesthetic enhancement and to act as a beacon for mariners.[24] Its date is uncertain, but it is much later than the chancel. Although its lack of height compared to the west tower has led to some questioning of its suitability as a beacon, it has been suggested that lining up the two towers guided ships into the navigable channel between the inlet's sandbanks;[16] this is the "leading light" practice later achieved using pairs of lighthouses at different levels.[37]
Furnishings and fixtures
The octagonal
Most East Anglian churches lost their medieval furnishings in the upheavals of the Reformation, and Blakeney is no exception. Apart from the hammerbeam roof, there is little original wood work in the nave; a few benches in the aisles, the fleur-de-lis-decorated beam supporting the rood, and two panels of the rood screen. The chancel retains four of its original choir stalls with their misericords, which are decorated with head and leaf motifs on the arms. St Nicholas benefited from sympathetic restoration in the late 19th and early 20th century. The new stalls and misericords match the style of the old, and the 1886 pulpit echoes the font, with the Instruments of the Passion on the stone stand, and the twelve Apostles carved on the woodwork. The pulpit has been described as "Victorian craftsmanship of matchless quality". The north porch was restored in 1896, and in the following year the west tower was repaired, and pews of a 15th-century pattern placed in the nave.[18][26]
1910 saw the restoration of the rood screen in a style consistent with that of the two ancient panels, the reconstruction of the rood loft, and the installation of a Norman and Beard two-manual organ with more than a thousand pipes. The organ pipes are above the parclose screens; the bellows, wind chest and electric blower are concealed in the chamber above the chancel.[26] The stalls with their misericords were restored in 1913.[2] The rood crucifix, flanked by St Mary and St John, came from Germany in 1913.[26]
Much church plate, such as the
The
Most churches prior to the Reformation had painted walls, often with murals; these were whitewashed by the reformers, and often religious texts or the Ten Commandments replaced the images. These inscriptions were in turn obliterated under the Catholic Queen Mary.[46] At Blakeney, as elsewhere, the formerly coloured walls are now the plain white typical of English churches.[47]
Memorials
John Calthorpe's "synfull body" lies at the eastern end of the nave under a marble gravestone and a brass plaque that carries his arms and a Latin inscription describing him as uni fundatorum fratum convent, "a founder [benefactor] of the convent of friars".[18] It is possible that he was originally buried in the chancel of the Carmelite friary, as he requested, but was re-interred in the nave of St Nicholas at the Dissolution.[4][9] A number of other stones carry standard tags in Latin or English requesting prayers or simply stating the identity of the internee, but Sir John Smyth's 1460 memorial enjoined "As I am that shall you be, Pray for the sowle of me".[23]
Blakeney was a lifeboat station from around 1825 to 1924. Various wall plaques commemorate the boats' rescues and crew losses from 1862, when the RNLI took over the running of the service, up to the station's closure. There are two blue wooden boards from the RNLI listing the earlier lifeboats and their achievements; the Brightwell (1862), another Brightwell (1863), the Zaccheus Burroughs (1891), and the Hettie (1873). Next to these is a stone plaque listing the rescues from 1877 to 1924, including those of the last lifeboat, the Caroline (1908), and further along the north aisle a painting of George Long, coxswain of the Caroline, is placed above the record of its most famous rescues on consecutive days on 7 and 8 January 1918, when 30 people were saved from two steamers in a storm.[48] A large wooden board acts as a war memorial, listing those locals who died in various military engagements. The clock in the west tower was donated by a Mrs Cooke in 1945 in memory of her late husband and sons.[18]
Medieval graffiti
The interiors of most Norfolk churches contain much pre-Reformation graffiti, unless they have been heavily limewashed or resurfaced. The churches of the Glaven ports in general, and Blakeney in particular, conform to this pattern. St Nicholas has an extensive array of prayers, merchant's marks and other symbols, but is notable for the large number of depictions of ships, at least 30, heavily concentrated in the nave towards the eastern end of the south aisle. There is a side altar there of unknown dedication, and an empty niche that would have once held the image of a saint. The pillars were painted red in the Middle Ages, and ship images scratched into the soft, chalky stone would have been much more conspicuous than they are now. It is likely that the images, mostly of smaller ships, were created as votive offerings by the seafaring inhabitants of the port.[47] The carving of ship graffiti in religious buildings is a tradition in ports going back to the Bronze Age,[49] and has been found across Europe.[50][51][52]
People
The long patronage of the Calthorpes under their various incarnations as the
The
Services and congregation
The rector of this Church of England parish as of 2019 is the Rev Richard Lawry.
St Nicholas is also used for non-religious events such as flower festivals, craft workshops and musical performances, and it has won diocesan tourism awards for its in-church information facilities.
References
- ^ Birks (2003) p. 11
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pevsner & Wilson (2002) pp. 394–397
- ^ Hinde (1997) pp. 182–183
- ^ a b c Wright, John (2002). "The origins of Blakeney Church" (PDF). Glaven Historian. 5: 26–34. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
- ^ "Remains of Blakeney Chapel at Tg 043 452, Bodham". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 19 September 2011
- ^ "Blakeney Chapel SAM (Scheduled Ancient Monument), North Norfolk". HELM (Historic Environment Local Management). English Heritage. Retrieved 19 September 2011
- ^ Birks (2003) p. 26
- ^ Birks (2003) p. 2
- ^ a b c d e f g "Holt hundred: Blakeney or Sniterley" in Blomefield & Parkin (1808) pp. 361–365
- ^ Pevsner & Wilson (2002) p. 398
- ^ Wright, John (1998). "Domesday Blakeney" (PDF). Glaven Historian. 5: 46–52. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
- ^ "Deanery of Tindaethwy & Menai: St Mary & St Nicholas, Beaumaris". The Diocese of Bangor. Church in Wales/Eglwys yng Nghymru. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011
- ^ "Langley Abbey opens to the public for the first time since 1197" (Press release). Natural England. 8 June 2010. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ^ a b Linnell (1984) Appendix: List of Rectors
- ^ a b "St Martin's, Glandford: incumbents". The Glaven Valley Benefice. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2011
- ^ a b c d Robinson (2006) pp. 3–5
- ^ Pevsner & Wilson (2002) p. 49
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Linnell (1984) pp.1–9
- ^ Haigh (1987) pp. 119–121
- ^ a b Nye (1965) p. 71
- ^ a b c George, Jean (1998). "The Reverend James Pointer: Rector of Blakeney (1584–1621) and Wiveton (1591–1621)" (PDF). Glaven Historian. 1: 15–19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
- ^ "Register bill of baptisms marriages and burials 1776–1777" Parish records of Blakeney PD619/19 at Norfolk Record Office
- ^ a b c White (1854) pp. 768–769
- ^ a b c "Church of St Nicholas, Blakeney". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 10 September 2011
- ^ a b "Faculties, 1923–1962" Parish records of Blakeney PD619/34 at Norfolk Record Office
- ^ a b c d e Robinson (2006) pp. 8–10
- ^ "St Margaret's, Cley: incumbents". The Glaven Valley Benefice. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2011
- ^ a b "Blakeney: St Nicholas, Blakeney". A church near you. Church of England. Retrieved 29 September 2011
- ^ "Provincial Directory: Norwich". The Anglian Communion Official Website. Anglican Consultative Council. Retrieved 18 October 2011
- ^ "History". The Church Commissioners. Church of England. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011
- ^ "Clergy Payroll Services". Office holders. Church of England. Retrieved 22 September 2011
- ^ Brandon (1860) p. 20
- ^ St Nicholas Welcome Group (1992) Tea in the Tower leaflet
- .
- ^ Brandon (1860) p. 84
- ^ Hawes, Frank (2007). "The Glories of the Glaven" (PDF). Blakeney Area History Society Newsletter. 24: 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2011.
- ^ "High and Low Lighthouses". Harwich Society. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2011
- ^ Whiting (2010) pp. 58–61
- ^ Loades (2003) p. 46
- ^ Robinson (2010) pp. 7, 11, 18
- ^ Knott, Simon. "St Nicholas, Blakeney". Blakeney. Norfolk Churches. Retrieved 4 November 2011
- ^ Taylor (2003) 173–175
- ^ Knowles (1936) pp. 58, 106
- .
- ^ Robinson (2006) pp. 6–7
- ^ Whiting (2010) pp. 119–132
- ^ a b Champion, Matthew (2011). "Walls have ears, noses, ships". Cornerstone. 32 (2): 28–32.
- ^ "St Nicholas Church, Blakeney". Eastern Daily Press. Norwich: Archant Regional Ltd. 15 April 2010. Archived from the original on 18 August 2011.
- ^ Wachsmann (1997) p. 147
- S2CID 162368627.
- ^ Crumlin-Pedersen, Ole; Thye, Birgitte Munch, eds. (1994). "The ship as symbol in prehistoric and medieval Scandinavia". Papers from an International Research Seminar at the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen, 5th–7th May 1994: 182.
- .
- ^ Brooks, F W (1961). Masons' Marks (PDF). York: East Yorkshire Local History Society. pp. 8–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2012.
- ^ Child (2008) p. 66
- ^ "Masons' and freemasons' marks". Masons’ and Freemasons’ Marks. Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Footnotes Retrieved 11 September 2011
- S2CID 162218168. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 March 2012.
- ^ Chambers (1829) p. 132
- ^ "Blakeney Lifeboat Station". Bean's Boat Trips. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2010. The crew list duplicates that displayed in the church.
- ^ Cemetery report for Blakeney (St Nicholas) Churchyard Commonwealth War Graves Commission Retrieved 30 July 2016.
- ^ "Services". The Glaven Valley Benefice. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2011
- ^ Ross, Tim (12 July 2011). "Ageing Church of England 'will be dead in 20 years'". Daily Telegraph. London: Hollinger Inc.
- ^ a b c "St Nicholas, Blakeney". The Glaven Valley Benefice. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2011
- ^ Jenkins (2000) p. 447
- ^ "Norfolk churches". TourNorfolk. Retrieved 26 October 2011
Cited texts
- Birks, Chris (2003). Report on an archaeological evaluation at Blakeney Freshes, Cley next the Sea: report No. 808 (PDF). Norwich: Norfolk Archaeological Unit.
- Blomefield, Francis; Parkin, Charles (1808). An Essay towards a topographical history of the county of Norfolk: volume 9. Kings Lynn: William Whittingham.
- Brandon, Raphael; Brandon, Joshua Arthur (1860). An analysis of Gothick architecture: volume 1. London: W Kent and Co. (Late D Bogue).
- Chambers, John (1829). A general history of the county of Norfolk: volume 1. London: J Stacy.
- Child, Mark (2008). Discovering churches and churchyards. Colchester: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7478-0659-2.
- Haigh, Christopher (1987). The English Reformation revised. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33631-4.
- Hinde, Thomas (1997). The Domesday Book, England's heritage, then and now. Canterbury: Tiger Books. ISBN 978-1-85833-440-0.
- Jenkins, Simon (2000). England's Thousand Best Churches. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-029795-9.
- Knowles, John Alder (1936). Essays in the history of the York school of glass-painting. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
- Linnell, Charles Lawrence Scruton (1984). Blakeney Church. Cotton, Suffolk: Ashlock.
- Loades, David (2003). Elizabeth I: The golden reign of Gloriana. London: ISBN 978-1-903365-43-4.
- Nye, Thelma M (1965). Parish church architecture. London: Batsford.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Wilson, Bill (2002). The Buildings Of England Norfolk I: Norwich and North-East Norfolk. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09607-1.
- Robinson, Geoffey H (c. 2006). St Nicholas, Blakeney. Norwich: Geoffrey H Robinson.
- Robinson, Geoffey H (2010). Glorious heritage of Norfolk: volume 5. Syderstone: Black Five Publications.
- Taylor, Richard (2003). How to read a church. London: Rider. ISBN 978-1-84413-053-5.
- Wachsmann, Shelley (1997). Seagoing ships and seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant. TAMU College Station: Texas A & M University Press. ISBN 978-0-89096-709-6.
- White, Francis (1854). History, gazetteer and directory of Norfolk, and the city and county of the city of Norwich. Sheffield: Francis White & Co.
- Whiting, Robert (2010). The Reformation of the English parish church. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-76286-1.
External links
- Blakeney Church website
- Ordnance Survey map
- St Nicholas at Norfolk Churches
- St Nicholas' graffiti at Norfolk Medieval Graffiti