Church Of St Botolph

Church of St Botolph

This parish church is mainly of the 13th, 14th and 16th centuries, but preserves a late 12th-century doorway and other fragments from an earlier church.

The 16th-century west tower is built of coursed limestone in four stages with put logs for scaffolding still vacant in the walls. It stands on a splayed plinth with string courses between stages and has a moulded cornice with large gargoyles to the centre of each side. The tower features diagonal buttressing across three stages and three lancet windows serving the newel staircase in the south-west corner. The west doorway and fenestration are also 16th-century. Above the west doorway is a plaque carved with two shields of arms, and the south wall carries an inscription.

The 13th-century nave is constructed of rubblestone, though the roof and most of the clerestorey were rebuilt around 1880. It is plain tiled with a parapet and has large reset 16th-century grotesque gargoyles to the south-east and north-east corners. The clerestorey contains four 19th-century windows.

A parapetted 13th-century south aisle adjoins the nave, with a 14th-century chapel at the east end. Both are of rubble and pebblestone on a plinth with diagonal and angle buttressing. The aisle has three 14th-century windows: two of two trefoil lights and one of three lights. A 12th-century tomb slab with omega ornament is incorporated in the east wall. The 13th-century south doorway has been reset; it features three hollow moulded orders in a two-centred arch with gabled head, attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases, and a round-headed rear arch.

The 13th-century chancel is of pebblestone and reused rubble to the upper courses, substantially rebuilt around 1880. It is tiled with a gable-end parapet. Parts of two 13th-century lancet windows survive in the north wall; a 14th-century window with low side occupies the south wall. The south doorway is a reset 12th-century feature, consisting of a round-headed archway with chevron ornament on attached octagonal shafts. One shaft to the east has been restored. The capitals are carved with knot ornament and have square abacii with moulded bases. The tympanum is carved with a figure of a mermaid between two beasts with scimitar tails, with a square-headed surround.

Interior

The circa 1880 nave roof incorporates 15th-century tie beams. The gable ends of the earlier roof remain visible in the east and west walls. A mid-13th-century north arcade of four bays features two-centred arches with two chamfered orders on cylindrical columns with round capitals and moulded bases; modern plinths support rebuilt semi-octagonal east and west responds. A late 13th-century south arcade of four bays has two chamfered orders in two-centred heads. The chamfers terminate in broach stops, though those on the south side are part hollow moulded. The arcade sits on cylindrical columns with moulded octagonal and round capitals, moulded bases and modern plinths.

The chancel contains a rebuilt 13th-century chancel arch of two-centred plan with two chamfered orders; the inner orders spring from attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases. Fragments of two carved 12th and 13th-century capitals are incorporated in the east wall. The five-bayed timber screen between chancel and nave retains some original 15th-century work. The stalls adjacent to the screen on the east side are 15th-century with poppyhead ends.

The chancel's south wall holds a 13th-century piscina with spiral drain in a square recess with chamfered jambs. A 14th-century piscina with ogee head is located in the south chapel. A late 13th-century font has an octagonal base on a cylindrical stem.

Monuments and other features

The south wall of the chancel carries a monument to Sir Thomas Maples, Bart (1634–1635), of stone with flanking fluted pilasters surmounted by an entablature and shield of arms. The ball finial from the village cross and other fragments are displayed in the north aisle.