Church Of St Margaret

HALES CHURCH LANE, TM 39 NE South side

6/22 Church of St. Margaret 5.9.60 - I

Former parish church, now in the care of the Redundant Churches Fund. Fabric of C12 remains almost intact with some C13 and C14 fenestration. Flint with brick and conglomerate, partly rendered. Limestone dressing. Nave and chancel thatched: roof hipped over east end. West tower, nave, apsidal chancel. Round west tower, possibly C11, with C14 bell-openings. Single light west window with raised cill. Later tower parapet with chequerwork of brick, flint and limestone. Fine C12 south door with two orders of shafts with cushion capitals, arch with zigzag, billet and roll mouldings. In the south wall of the nave two 2-light windows with 'Y' tracery, the western window with cusping. Between the windows an original window opening, now blocked, with engaged shafts and capitals and roll moulded semicircular arch; the cill is cut by a later lancet, now blocked with red brick. Chancel has arcading of pairs of semicircular headed recesses divided by pilaster buttresses with nook shafts in their bases. Arcading pierced by C13 lancets. Decorative cill-band below arcading. 2-light east window with 'Y' tracery under a shallow arch. The eastern-most north nave window has been blocked in brick with a later rood stair slit window inserted, now also blocked. Very fine and ornate north doorway, C12 with two orders of shafts, their capitals decorated with stars and volutes, hood mould with wheel motif and arches with zigzag, bobbin and dentil decoration. Interior: nave roof C19 boarded waggon type; plain plaster vault over chancel. Chancel arch with double chamfer. Base of C15 screen with some colour remaining. Figure niches with pedestals flanking east window. In north wall of chancel, a square aumbry recess with shelf. Rood stair in north-east corner of nave, four centred arched head to opening. Two memorial slabs in chancel floor, to Peter Lawes (d.1722) and a C17 slab to Mary Lawes. C18 gallery at west end of nave. Semicircular tower arch with castellated imposts. Blocked circular north and south windows in tower lower stage, their splayed reveals showing traces of basketframing. C15 octagonal font with four lions around the stem, the bowl supported on angel-corbels; alternating roses and angels bearing shields in panels of bowl. C17 font cover of open ogee crown type with turned centre post and acorn finials. Wall paintings: C14 figure of St. James the Great with trail design above, in jamb of south-east nave window, fragment of St. Christopher on south wall of nave probably C15; foliage frieze above east window, C14.

Listing NGR: TM3835196104