St Mary Magdalene church, Bitchfield :: Shared Description
The Church is built of the local limestone with lead covered roofs on the Nave and North Aisle, Collyweston slates on the Chancel, and stone slabs on the South Porch.
The Domesday Book records that there was a Church here but little remains of this early pre-Conquest Church save small areas of herringbone masonry in the south wall of the Nave to the east of the door.
The south doorway is of the 13th century with dog-toothed ornament of the chamfer. The three-bay north arcade is also of early 13th century date with plain bell shaped capitals and moulded bases to the cylindrical columns. On the west wall of the Nave can be seen the outline of the earlier steep pitched roof before the clerestory was added.
During the 12th century the Church was enlarged by the building of the North Aisle. The Aisle was largely rebuilt in the 15th century when the clerestory and the almost flat roof of the Nave were added.
The 15th century appears to have been a time of rebuilding and improvement and we still have the carved figures of the angels with musical instruments and emblems of the crucifixion, the Bishop’s head over the Chancel arch, and carved flowers, fruit and leaves of that date. The font is also 15th C. with carved shields.
The north aisle Altar stands on an old sepulchral stone which once had brasses upon it, the matrices of which are still visible, and is said to seal the entrance to the underground passage which led to the old Manor House situated to the north-east of the church.
The carved boss at the centre of the nave roof, at the west end, has a small human face instead of flowers indicating that the woodcarver did not wish to offend the god of the trees from the old religion – a type of medieval insurance.
The North Aisle and Vestry roof springs from the original carved stone heads. The plain embattled parapet of the tower has a hollowed strong course in which are rudimentary carvings and there are grotesque gargoyles at each corner.
The spire is entirely plain except for one set of gabled lights, and a foliated finial stone. The spire was struck by lightning in 1947 and the top half of the spire was rebuilt, by Bowmans of Stamford, and a lightning conductor and new cockerel weathervane provided by Furse & Co of Nottingham.
The Domesday Book records that there was a Church here but little remains of this early pre-Conquest Church save small areas of herringbone masonry in the south wall of the Nave to the east of the door.
The south doorway is of the 13th century with dog-toothed ornament of the chamfer. The three-bay north arcade is also of early 13th century date with plain bell shaped capitals and moulded bases to the cylindrical columns. On the west wall of the Nave can be seen the outline of the earlier steep pitched roof before the clerestory was added.
During the 12th century the Church was enlarged by the building of the North Aisle. The Aisle was largely rebuilt in the 15th century when the clerestory and the almost flat roof of the Nave were added.
The 15th century appears to have been a time of rebuilding and improvement and we still have the carved figures of the angels with musical instruments and emblems of the crucifixion, the Bishop’s head over the Chancel arch, and carved flowers, fruit and leaves of that date. The font is also 15th C. with carved shields.
The north aisle Altar stands on an old sepulchral stone which once had brasses upon it, the matrices of which are still visible, and is said to seal the entrance to the underground passage which led to the old Manor House situated to the north-east of the church.
The carved boss at the centre of the nave roof, at the west end, has a small human face instead of flowers indicating that the woodcarver did not wish to offend the god of the trees from the old religion – a type of medieval insurance.
The North Aisle and Vestry roof springs from the original carved stone heads. The plain embattled parapet of the tower has a hollowed strong course in which are rudimentary carvings and there are grotesque gargoyles at each corner.
The spire is entirely plain except for one set of gabled lights, and a foliated finial stone. The spire was struck by lightning in 1947 and the top half of the spire was rebuilt, by Bowmans of Stamford, and a lightning conductor and new cockerel weathervane provided by Furse & Co of Nottingham.
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Created: Sat, 31 Mar 2012, Updated: Sun, 26 Dec 2021
The 'Shared Description' text on this page is Copyright 2012 Julian P Guffogg, however it is specifically licensed so that contributors can reuse it on their own images without restriction.
