Church Of St George (Church Of England)

Church of St George

Parish church of the Church of England at Anstey. The building is cruciform in plan, comprising a chancel, four-bay clerestoried nave with north and south aisles, transepts, a central tower, and a south porch.

The earliest surviving work is the central tower, which dates to the late 12th century. The lowest stage is formed by four wide round arches, plain on the north and south sides; the west and east sides feature ringed roll mouldings and jamb shafts with primitive volute capitals, dated by Pevsner to around 1200. The second stage contains small pointed doorways on the north and south to former chambers over the transepts, and 15th-century two-light traceried bell openings. The tower culminates in a 15th-century top stage with an embattled parapet and Hertfordshire spike, and retains a 15th-century moulded timber ceiling. The tower is surrounded by marks of steeper old roofs.

The chancel and transepts were substantially rebuilt in the late 13th century. The chancel displays rich late 13th-century details, including three two-light windows on each side with pointed trefoil heads and quatrefoils above. The windows feature jamb shafts and labels, linked by moulded string courses. Sills are higher on the north side. At the east end, two black lancets flank a 19th-century window. A north doorway features unusual label stops; below are a piscina and sedilia set lower within a window and adjoining niche. Two ranges of early 14th-century wooden stalls with carved misericords are preserved.

The north transept contains a three-light 15th-century window on the north side over the remains of an original door, and a late 13th-century three-light west window with an altered rear arch. A 15th-century moulded arch opens into the north aisle. An indent for a large-cross brass with margin inscription remains, and a small piscina is positioned at the south-east.

The south transept was substantially rebuilt during the 1871–72 restoration. It retains restored triple lancet windows on the east and south sides, with an 1872 double lancet above the south window. A single late 13th-century lancet on the west has deep splays. A 15th-century arched opening connects to the south aisle. At the south-west corner is a circular turret lit by a cross-loop. The south wall contains a fine canopied tomb recess dating to around 1300, embellished with pinnacles and black trefoil tracery, featuring a wimpled head and a recumbent effigy in a long robe.

The chancel and transepts are distinguished by unusual semi-circular lower stages to their 13th-century diagonal buttresses. At the south-west corner of the south transept is a large semi-circular stair projection, formerly serving an upper floor. Corbels and a blocked door in the north-east angle indicate a former lean-to 14th-century vestry. The north transept retains the large iron-bound medieval chest now situated near the organ.

The nave dates to the 14th and 15th centuries and comprises four biers with quatrefoil piers and moulded capitals supporting moulded two-centred arches. The clerestorey is lit by 15th-century quatrefoil windows with rear arches, three on each side. The west window is 14th-century with 15th-century tracery, and a wide 14th-century door with moulded head and jambs opens onto the west front.

The north aisle features a 15th-century moulded timber roof and two 15th-century two-light windows on the north side, one at the west end; a north door is blocked. A mural monument to Ralph Jermin (died 1644) is displayed here.

The south aisle contains two Perpendicular windows on the south and one at the west. A 15th-century south doorway leads to the south porch, which has two-light windows to the east and west and walls decorated with blind cusped panelling. The porch entrance is four-centred, moulded with shafts.

The font is a vigorous 12th-century piece with a rounded square bowl ornamented with large carved figures at each corner, apparently mermen holding their bifurcated tails to each side.

The building is constructed of flint rubble with stone dressings. Metal roofs of low pitch are set behind parapets. The roofs were lowered in 1831, and brickwork repairs to parapets were carried out at that time, but no structural alterations were made.

The church underwent a careful restoration from 1871 to 1872 by William Butterfield (1814–1900), who removed the west gallery, rebuilt the south end of the south transept, and refitted the interior. Further repairs were undertaken by Sir Arthur Blomfield in 1907.