Church Of Holy Cross

The Church of Holy Cross at Basildon is a medieval parish church with a 14th-century nave core, substantially altered and extended over the following centuries.

Building History and Development

The nave dates from the 14th century. The south porch was added in the mid-15th century, and the west tower was built around 1500. The chancel was rebuilt in 1597. Part of the north wall of the nave was rebuilt in brick in 1702, when other repairs were also carried out. The church was restored in 1888 by Joseph Peacock. In 1930, Reginald Blomfield undertook repairs to the nave, including the removal of the plaster ceiling. Further repairs to the porch took place in the second half of the 20th century.

Materials and Plan

The chancel is brick; the nave is constructed of uncoursed rubble; and the tower is built of coursed stone. The south porch is timber-framed on dwarf stone walls. Stone dressings are used throughout, and the roofs are tiled. The church comprises a nave with a west tower and south porch, with a separate chancel.

Exterior

The brick chancel of 1597 was repaired in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its north wall is blank and has a chamfered plinth. The east wall contains a two-light window in Decorated style, above which is a stone plaque recording the 1597 rebuilding. Two 19th-century single-light windows are in the south wall.

The eastern part of the nave's north wall was rebuilt in brick during the 18th century with heavy brick buttresses. It contains a reset 15th-century window of two foiled lights in a square frame. A 14th-century north door is blocked. The nave's south wall has a three-light 15th-century window to the east of the porch and a two-light window to the west. The 14th-century south door is covered by a fine, though much restored, 15th-century timber porch.

The porch features two sets of four-light openings with moulded mullions on either side and heavily cusped barge boarding. The outer doorway is four-centred and set within a square frame. The inner part of the porch is supported on a heavy carved beam with curved braces. The spandrels contain carved ornament: a collared bear on a ragged staff, a rosette, and a dragon with a forked tongue. The porch now stands on dwarf stone walls, though it formerly had weatherboarding on the lower part.

The west tower has three stages, a plain parapet, and a pyramidal cap. The west door is 15th-century and has a hood mould. The upper stages contain early 16th-century windows with cusped lights in square frames.

Interior

There is no chancel arch, but the nave and chancel are differentiated by their roofs. The late 16th-century chancel roof spans two bays, with the central rafter having curved braces forming a three-centred arch. The ridge and side purlins are moulded and embattled, with curved wind braces. The much simpler nave roof is probably early 18th-century and has five stop-chamfered tie beams. It was formerly ceiled, but the plaster covering was removed in 1930. The tower arch dates to around 1500 and has two orders with dying mouldings.

Fittings

The church contains a 15th-century brass indent in Purbeck marble for a female figure, which is a palimpsest reusing a 14th-century slab, and another indent with the demi-figure of a priest. Fine late 17th- or early 18th-century communion rails with twisted balusters are present. An early 18th-century Royal Arms of Queen Anne is displayed. An inscription on the north wall of the nave records the repair of the church by the parishioners in 1702. A 19th-century font and timber pulpit are also in the church.

Historical Context

Holy Cross was the parish church of the medieval village of Basildon and remained the centre of what was largely an agricultural settlement through the first part of the 20th century. When Basildon was developed as a New Town following the Second World War, the area around Holy Cross became known as the Fryerns and has since acquired much modern housing.