Monument record MCC7627 - St Marys Church, Easthorpe

Summary

C12 nave with apsidal chancel, extended in the C13; C15 south porch (rebuilt in 1910-11).

Location

Grid reference Centred TL 9124 2150 (21m by 19m)
Map sheet TL92SW
Civil Parish COPFORD, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Map

Type and Period (3)

Full Description

Small church, nave and chancel under one roof, of mixed materials with Roman brick in dressings (mixed rubble and septaria with dressings of Roman brick and clunch). Timber w. belfry. Essentially Norman (windows) which had an apse, the beginning of which is exposed on the S. side. The chancel is a C13 alteration.<1>

Good pointed sedilia (or seat) with two pointed trefoil arches on shafts and three widely stepped lancet windows with internal dogtooth ornamentation.<1>

Wall painting, mid-C13 figures in the splays of a S. window.<1>

Stained glass, Christ preaching, c.1530 (S. window). German or Swiss.<1>

C12 nave with apsidal chancel, extended in the C13; C15 south porch. Formerly a simple Norman nave and apsidal chancel; C13 extension to the chancel. Roman brick used for dressings. The external walls are much refaced, containing many pieces of dressed stone including mouldings and part of a newel. Internally there seem to be two periods of Norman work and the whole building is not as simple as it seems at first sight.<2> Built of mixed rubble and septaria with dressings of Roman brick and clunch. Early C12 nave, three windows in the north wall of C13, C14 and C16 with a blocked C12 window above. Early C12 north doorway with round arch of Roman brick. There are two C15 doorways to the roodloft stair. Of the three windows in the south wall two are C12 and similar to that of the north wall, the third is C14. C12 south doorway. The west wall contains a mid C14 window. The mid C13 chancel replaces a former apse - it is undivided from the nave. East wall has mid C13 windows - with lancet heads, dog tooth ornament and detached shafts with moulded bases and capitals. North wall has a C13 lancet window and one mid C14 window. South wall has 4 windows; two C13 lancets, one C12 with semicircular head in Roman brick and one C14. The doorway is C13. The south porch rebuilt in the C15 incorporates a C15 two centred timber arch and C15 tie beam with crown post. There are C13 wall paintings on the south-east window splays in the nave.<3> Nave with apsidal chancel built in the early C12. In the mid C13 the apse was destroyed and the chancel extended east. The south porch was added in the C15. Fittings etc include C13 paintings on the splays and head of the south-east window of the nave including remains of figures in black and red, a C13 piscina in the chancel, an early C14 recess in the nave, two C15 benches with shaped ends and one with the remains of popeys, a mid C13 sedilia in the chancel and C16 stained glass in the chancel.<4><5>

Site Assessment by Rodwell & Rodwell (1977) = 'The church has been substantially restored in the C19 but is still an important building especially for the Early English east end. There are no current threats. The floors have been relaid in this century.'<2>

Six digital photographs taken of the exterior July 2016.<6>

Sources/Archives (6)

  • <1> Monograph: Bettley, James and Pevsner, Nikolaus. 2007. The buildings of England: Essex. p.337.
  • <2> Monograph: Rodwell, Warwick J with Rodwell, KA. 1977. Historic Churches: a wasting asset. p.106.
  • <3> DESC TEXT: Department of the Environment. 1982. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Colchester Rural. p68.
  • <4> DESC TEXT: RCHME. 1922. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex - Volume 3. Vol 3, pp.91-92.
  • <5> DESC TEXT: unknown. 1960 0nwards. SMR form unknown.
  • <6> Photograph: Tipper, J.. 2016. Photographs of St Mary the Virgin, Easthorpe. Digital.

Finds (7)

Protected Status/Designation

Related Monuments/Buildings (4)

Related Events/Activities (0)

Record last edited

Jul 6 2017 11:56AM

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