Church of St. Margaret

Church of St. Margaret

Parish church on the north side of Yarmouth Road, Ormesby St. Margaret with Scratby. The church originates in the 14th century, with its nave and chancel from that period. The nave was remodelled in the 15th century, when bequests for building the west tower were made in 1492 and 1501, and bells were acquired in 1538. In 1867, a north aisle and vestry were added and the whole church was restored and refenestrated. The chancel roof was replaced in 1867, the remainder of the building re-roofed in 1895, and the north aisle was altered again in 1986.

The building is constructed of quaternary and quarry flint and chert, with Lincolnshire limestone ashlar dressings and slate roofs.

The three-stage tower stands upon a flushwork plinth and is supported by diagonal buttresses. It has a three-light Perpendicular and 19th-century west window, quatrefoil ventilation panels to the ringing chamber set in square surrounds, and a string course below two-light mouchette belfry windows. The parapet is double crenellated flushwork.

The nave has diagonal corner buttresses and a stepped flanking buttress, with three three-light Perpendicular windows. The south side features a two-storey 15th-century porch with a gabled and lead roof. The porch has diagonal buttresses to the first storey, a wave-moulded outer arch below a wall sundial and cusped parvis window, two-light square-headed Perpendicular side windows to the ground floor, and slits above to the parvis. The porch contains a re-used inner Norman doorway with one order of shafts featuring scalloped bases and capitals, and an arch decorated with four orders: inner zig-zag with beakhead, billet, double chevron, and billet, with one order of chevron extending into the jambs.

The chancel has two south stepped buttresses and two 19th-century Perpendicular three-light windows, with an arched priests' door between the buttresses. There are diagonal east buttresses and a five-light 19th-century transomed east window of Perpendicular design. A lean-to vestry stands against the north chancel wall, with one buttress and one 19th-century window matching the south side.

The north aisle has four-light flowing east and west windows, and two three-light flowing windows in the eastern bays. The western two bays are obscured by a lean-to structure of flint and slate built in 1986, which has a four-centred doorway.

Interior

The nave has a four-bay octagonal north arcade with double hollow-chamfered arches of 1867. The tower arch is tall with bowtell and wave moulding, with hollow-chamfered stepped rebates to the west. The chancel arch has bowtell and hollow jambs supporting a 19th-century double wave-moulded arch. Both the nave and aisle roofs are arch-braced with wall posts dropping to the head and rosette corbels.

In the east end of the aisle is a reset founders' tomb of the mid 14th century, featuring a cusped ogee arch with foliage carvings in the spandrels of the cusps. The spandrels contain Geometric tracery motifs. A re-cut 15th-century octagonal font has panels with quatrefoils or shields.

The chancel roof matches the nave. Wall monuments include one to John and Abigail Ramsey, dated 1798 and 1811, with monuments below to Caroline Home (1794) and above to John Ramey (1794), amalgamated to form one composition in black and white marble. The Home monument has a border of acanthus rising from squared urns, an open pediment above, and an apron with cherub heads below. The Ramey monument is of black marble with a white oval inscription panel and an achievement at the top.

To the east is an Easter Sepulchre in the form of a founders' tomb, mid 14th century, with a moulded, cusped and sub-cusped ogee arch. The spandrels of the cusps contain carved angel heads, and a central shield boss also features an angel figure. The arch has a square surround with traceried spandrels. Beneath the sepulchre is a brass to Sir Robert Clere (1529), showing an effigy of Sir Robert dressed in armour and mail skirt with an inscription border.

The south chancel wall has cusped and cusped-and-stepped sedilia and piscina with ogeed arches.