The Parish Church Of St Agnes

The Parish Church of St Agnes

The Parish Church of St Agnes is a parish church mainly of the 15th century, located in Cawston. It is constructed of ashlar, flint with stone dressings, and render, with lead and slate roofs. The church comprises a tower, two-storey south porch, north aisle, south aisle, nave, clerestorey, north transept, north chancel chapel, chancel and vestry.

The tower dates to the early 15th century and rises four stages with two decorated base courses that continue inside the nave. It features stepped angle buttresses, a fine west door with canopied niches at its east side containing figures of a Wild Man and dragon in the spandrels, and above these the arms of Wingfield and De la Pole in a frieze. A four-light transomed west window occupies the upper stage, with two-light sound holes to east and west (the eastern one now blocked), and two-light bell openings on each face.

The south porch has stepped diagonal buttresses, a base course and a west stair turret with remains of flushwork panels. Inside the porch at first floor level are original timber shutters to the windows. The porch entrance has a Perpendicular doorway with a niche featuring a crocketted ogee canopy flanked by two one-light windows with straight heads, and two curvilinear windows to east and west. A decorated stone parapet tops the porch, while inside a tierceron vault contains carved corbels and bosses. An original bell frame survives in the tower, as does an early 16th-century timber ringing gallery at the base of the tower. This gallery features stopped and chamfered floor joists spanning between roll moulded beams supported on moulded posts with attached half octagonal shafts with base and capitals. Arch braces with traceried spandrels span between capitals and beams, while a balustrade with carved balusters and fascia bears a carved inscription for its length.

The nave is entered through a fine tall tower arch of compound mouldings. A six-bay arcade with octagonal piers, bases and capitals lines the nave, with these piers raised in height by one-third. The westernmost bay is one-third wider than the remainder. The nave is spanned by a single fine hammerbeam roof with carved angels standing on the hammer beams, bearing evidence of original paint. The hammer beams are supported on octagonal wall posts with bases and capitals, resting upon carved stone corbels. Longitudinal arch braces support a carved frieze over the clerestorey windows and are decorated with angels bearing shields or musical instruments. Hammer beams alternate with arch braces, while purlins and principal rafters are moulded and have carved bosses at their intersections. Figures on the most eastern hammer beams are probably 19th-century restorations.

The north aisle comprises five bays, with stepped buttresses and tall three-light Perpendicular windows. At the west end, a doorway bears an inscription with the arms of Robert Oxburgh above. A stone parapet with gargoyles runs the length of this aisle. The north aisle roof is arch braced with tracery in the spandrels, with arch braces supported on carved stone corbels.

The south aisle is of rendered flint with four tall three-light Perpendicular windows between stepped buttresses featuring flushwork. A parapet decorated with flushwork shields, roses and gargoyles tops this aisle. The south aisle roof appears to be of 17th-century date with ovolo mouldings and ogee nicked stops to principal beams, which have small arch braces supported on stone corbels. The wall posts and arch braces of the roof are cut to accommodate the windows and the south aisle, though the roll mouldings appear to be nailed to the rest of the member.

The north transept features a Curvilinear window to the west and Perpendicular three-light windows to north and east. The entrance to the rood stairs in the north transept is fine, with compound moulded reveals, and above it is a 19th-century hammerbeam roof.

The clerestorey contains five three-light Perpendicular windows with four-centred arches and a parapet gable with bellcote.

The south transept has a blocked west window, a 19th-century south window, and two three-light windows with straight heads and reticulated tracery. A south piscina with ogee arch, featuring a Wild Man and dragon in the spandrels, is located in this transept. A wall painting appears on the east wall.

The north chancel chapel has a brick buttress flanked by two three-light Perpendicular windows with four-centred arches. Within this chapel is a 15th-century arcade with arch-braced roof, the central arch brace resting on half-round piers with bases and capitals. A tall screen and gates with 20 painted saints on the dado occupy this space. A hammerbeam roof of shallow pitch rises above the chancel, with wall posts resting on timber corbels cut as springing for a timber vault.

The chancel features angle stepped buttresses to north and south; that to the south has a scratch dial. On the south side, a re-set priest's door is flanked to the west by a Perpendicular three-light window, and to the east by two 19th-century 'Y' traceried windows. A 19th-century five-light east window illuminates the chancel. Stone parapet gables with kneelers and a finial at the peak complete the chancel exterior. The chancel arch has a 14th-century base and capitals. Inside the chancel, a double piscina and dropped sill sedilia have been replaced by three stalls featuring 14th-century misericords with much carving.

The vestry is situated to the east, with a four-light Perpendicular window to the north and a re-set stone cross in its north-east corner.

Interior fittings include 17th-century altar rails with turned balusters and newels with acorn finials. A Perpendicular hexagonal pulpit rests on a stone finial base. An octagonal font on one step is decorated with a Perpendicular blind arcade on the bowl, while the base features Perpendicular tracery with shields and quatrefoils. Benches with poppyhead ends line the interior, with those at the rear featuring traceried backs. A few small brasses and a 14th-century tomb in the south transept are present; the tomb has been repositioned so that the man and woman now lie head to head. A medieval poor box survives within the church.