Church Of St Mary The Virgin

Church of St Mary the Virgin

This is a parish church in Swaffham Bulbeck, primarily of the 13th century, though the chancel and aisles, while 13th-century in origin, were rebuilt in the 14th century. Much of the clunch work has been restored, including the tracery to many of the windows. The building is constructed mostly of clunch with some limestone, and has slate and tiled roofs.

The West Tower is of clunch with limestone dressings to the quoins and buttresses. It rises in three stages with a splayed plinth and blocked parapet with a main cornice that retains four original beast gargoyles. The fenestration and bell chamber openings are all 13th-century, featuring double chamfers in two-centred arches, including a west window of three lancets in a two-centred arch. Three-stage angle buttressing supports the tower.

The nave is also of clunch, but the clerestorey was added in the 15th century and is constructed of pebble and flint. The roof is of shallow pitch. Each side of the clerestorey has four windows, each containing two cinquefoil lights in four-centred heads. The South aisle is 14th-century, built of clunch on a sill of flint with an upper edge of limestone. Its fenestration dates to the 14th century with original reticulated tracery that is badly worn, including an east window of three lights. The stonework of the South porch has been rendered, with an outer arch of two-centred form with two chamfered orders. The inner arch has two wave-moulded orders in a two-centred arch with label and mask stops. The chancel has a flint sill with rendered walls probably of clunch. All of the windows have been restored.

Internally, the nave arcade comprises four bays with two-centred arches of two chamfered orders and a continuous roll-moulded label. The columns are octagonal with moulded capitals and bases. The roof dates to the 15th century, of shallow pitch and side-purlin construction with a ridge piece. It spans four bays plus a narrower bay to the east. The tie-beams and intermediate principal rafters are carried on wall posts, which are shortened above the clerestorey windows. Arch bracing runs from the posts to the tie-beams. Bosses decorate the intersections of the main beams, and the tie-beams and principal rafters are moulded. The North and South aisles were rebuilt at approximately the same period. Each features a moulded band at sill height terminating in a mask stop at the side of the opposing North and South doorways. The rear arches of the 14th-century windows in the aisles have hollow moulding terminating in broach stops. North of the chancel arch is the rood loft staircase entry.

The chancel has been much restored but retains a three-seat sedilia, originally of clunch but now mostly constructed of Ketton stone. Each bay is set within an ogee arch with running foliate ornament terminating in a finial, and is flanked by shafts with crocketed finials. Apart from two or three benches, the nave and aisles are almost completely furnished with intact 15th-century pews, including two bench fronts, and in the North aisle, probably part of the original uprights into which the bench ends were jointed to the wall. The rails are roll-moulded and the ogee-shaped pew ends have elbows and embattled finials carved with fabulous beasts.

The font is 13th-century stone, octagonal in form with an octagonal stem. A fine 16th-century Italian cassone of cedar wood is located in the South chapel.