Church Of St Katherine (Church Of England)

Church of St Katherine, Ickleford

This parish church stands on the west side of Arlesey Road. The building comprises a nave dating from the mid-12th century, a chancel and west tower from the early 13th century, and a south porch and nave roof from the mid-15th century. The church was substantially restored in 1859 by Sir George Gilbert Scott for Mrs Marion Dudley Ryder, when the south aisle, south chapel (now the organ chamber), and north vestry were added.

The masonry walls are plastered externally, with an incised diaper design to the south aisle and chapel. The south clearstorey is of uncoursed knapped flint with limestone dressings. The roof coverings are copper over the nave and chancel, lead over the south aisle and south chapel, and a pyramidal roof with vane over the west tower.

The church is small in scale, with a square-ended chancel, a higher nave with an aisle and clearstorey only on the south side, a crenellated south porch, and a short square west tower with massive buttresses, diagonal at the west corners.

The chancel has a 13th-century lancet window to the north of the altar and a 15th-century cinquefoil piscina to the south. An open timber roof of three bays spans the space, with a triplet of stepped lancets at the east end, featuring jamb shafts inside and out and stained glass dating to around 1860, possibly by Clayton & Bell, in medallion and mosaic design. A wooden altar rail mounted on gilded iron standards stands within. A mural tablet on the south wall commemorates Susan Cockayne, who died in 1790. The north wall contains a high two-light cinquefoil window above the lean-to north vestry, accessed by a round-arched doorway with heavy roll moulding. The south wall contains a wide 19th-century Romanesque arch with an interlinked chain motif of two orders.

A wide, pointed two-centred chancel arch of the 13th century, according to Pevsner, features dog-tooth ornament and jamb shafts. The vigorous tooling of this arch matches the 19th-century work.

The tall nave shows a noticeable batter to the north wall. The roof is a 15th-century open timber construction of low pitch spanning five bays, with vigorously carved stone corbels and wall posts. Heavy straight moulded braces support the tie beams, with a king post on each braced to the ridge beam. One purlin runs to each slope.

Mid-14th-century two-light windows with ogee tracery in the head appear in the north and south walls near the west end. A 12th-century south doorway has a semi-circular moulded arch of three orders and two shafts on each side with leaf-carved capitals and moulded abaci. A blocked north doorway features chevron moulding on its rear arch, simple chamfered imposts, and chevron ornament to the semi-circular arch with chamfered external joints.

The north wall is buttressed externally and has a bulge near the east end for the rood stair. Adjacent to this stands a 14th-century window with three cinquefoil lights and ogee tracery under a square head, which lights the pulpit. A narrow pointed doorway with grille provides access to the rood stair at the northeast corner of the nave, with a 15th-century piscina to its east.

A large monument on the north wall commemorates Richard Ansell, who died in 1726, and is signed by R. Easton. It features a bellied cartouche with putti, drapes, and an armorial shield. Hatchments hang over the north and south doors. An octagonal 19th-century arcaded stone pulpit stands in the nave. An octagonal stone font rests on eight coloured marble shafts with 13th-century style capitals and bases.

A brass of Thomas Somer and his wife Marjory dates to around 1380, showing half-length figures with an imperfect inscription.

The south aisle is separated from the nave by a vigorously carved 19th-century Romanesque arcade of three bays with dog-tooth ornament and circular pillars. Circular clearstorey windows with quatrefoil tracery rise above. The south aisle itself has a low open timber roof and three pairs of pointed south windows with shafted external jambs. An elaborate alabaster memorial to the Dudley Ryder family fills the west wall.

The south porch is taller, with a crenellated parapet and a central niche above a two-centred continuously moulded entrance arch of two orders.

The two-stage west tower contains a two-centred arch opening to the nave and a small 13th-century lancet window on the south. A 15th-century two-light pointed window on the west, with a central mullion rising to the head, contains stained glass of 1898 by Kempe. A small battened west door was inserted below the sill. Fifteenth-century two-light bell openings on each face feature trefoil lights under a square head with label. Rectangular sockets flank the windows.