Church of St Mary Magdalene

Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene

This is a parish church of outstanding architectural importance, with a complex building history spanning from the late 11th century to the present day.

The earliest work dates to the late 11th century and comprises the nave, its arcades, clerestory, north aisle, and the lower part of the tower. In the late 13th or early 14th century, arches were inserted to the north and south of the central tower and transepts were added. The tower was heightened around 1340, and a spire was subsequently added. During the 14th century, the south aisle was widened and rebuilt with a south transept, a south porch was constructed, and an upper clerestory with a new nave roof were installed. The south porch was rebuilt in the late 14th century with a vaulted roof. The chancel was rebuilt in the mid-15th century, and a north chapel and vestry were added at this period. The 18th century saw further rebuilding, and the chancel was rebuilt again in 1882–85 whilst retaining 15th-century details. Major restorations were carried out in 1908–09 to the nave roof and in 1935. The steeple was repaired in 1948. A fire in the south transept in 1979 destroyed the roof but, following cleaning, revealed important mid-12th-century wall paintings in the nave.

The walls are constructed of field stones and rubble with Barnack limestone dressings. The roofs are plain tiled, with lead-covered aisle roofs and spire. Some reused Roman bricks and flue tiles are incorporated into the fabric. The monolithic columns of the nave arcade may derive from an earlier church.

The south elevation displays the chancel with a steep gabled roof, two windows with vertical tracery, and a priest's doorway. The central tower rises in three stages and is topped by an octagonal broached spire with one of two original sanctus bells, now chiming the hours of the clock. The middle stage shows weathered courses marking the former transept roofs. A timber-framed and plastered semi-octagonal belfry stair with a plain tiled roof projects from the tower. The belfry features a deep continuous splayed string below a window of two trefoiled-ogee-lights with a two-centred head, with carved head corbels below the eaves cornice. The south transept or chapel has a low-pitched gable roof and a 14th-century window of four cinquefoil-ogee-lights in a two-centred arch. The nave clerestory contains four round leaded lights. The south aisle displays two three-light and one two-light 14th-century windows with cinquefoil lights in two-centred arches, and a 14th-century south doorway with a two-centred arch and two wave-moulded orders. The west window of the south aisle has two cinquefoil-lights in a two-centred arch. The 14th-century south porch features a vaulted roof (rebuilt in the late 14th century) with carved bosses at the apices of hollow-chamfered ridges.

Interior

The nave arcades comprise four bays with semicircular responds carrying cushion capitals and moulded bases with spurs at their angles. The first and third piers are monolithic columns. The tower arches to east and west are 13th-century two-centred arches of three chamfered orders springing from 11th-century responds, each fitted with two attached semicircular shafts with cushion capitals and ovolo-moulded bases. The arch to the south aisle and transept is 14th-century, a stilted two-centred arch with moulded respond capitals and bases.

The roofs comprise a restored 14th-century scissor-braced trussed-rafter nave roof with later tie beams; the south aisle has a restored lean-to roof of five bays with moulded tie beams, short king posts, and moulded purlin. The south transept roof was replaced following the 1979 fire circa 1980.

The chancel contains a 15th-century piscina with moulded jambs and a cinquefoiled head. A 14th-century niche in the south transept has moulded jambs, a cinquefoiled head, a moulded label with finial, and carved head stops. The font, possibly 14th-century, has an octagonal bowl with a hollow-chamfered soffit, an octagonal stem, and a chamfered base. A 14th-century tomb recess is set into the south aisle. A 15th-century screen comprises three bays. The pews feature restored poppy-head bench ends.

Monuments and Memorials

The nave contains monuments to Mary, wife of John Hanchett (1796), and Henry Hanchett (1795). The south aisle holds a white marble tablet to John Hanchett (1644), decorated with an urn and drapery above a shield. The chancel displays a tablet with a semicircular head, moulded cornice, and shaped apron to Mary, wife of John Hanchett (1773), along with a white marble plaque to Zachary Brooke, D.D. (1788), and Susanna his wife (1812). Numerous floor slabs commemorate members of the Hanchett family and others, including Zachary Brooke (1788), who served as vicar and Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity. A painted canvas Royal Arms with a moulded wooden frame hangs in the north aisle.

Wall Paintings and Glass

Mid-12th-century true frescoes are arranged in two tiers above an arcade and depict four passion scenes and three martyrdoms (of St Peter, St Andrew, and St Laurence). A 14th-century Doom painting is painted over the chancel arch, showing Christ and the Virgin. 14th-century glass survives in the south aisle windows and as fragments elsewhere. Medieval tiles have been reset in the chancel. A tower clock dated 1855 is mounted on the tower.