All Saints' Church, Icklingham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids All Saints' Church, Icklingham |
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All Saints' Church, Icklingham
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| OS grid reference | TL 776 726 |
| Location | Icklingham, Suffolk |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 7 May 1954 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Norman, Gothic |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Flint, thatched roof |
All Saints' Church is an old Anglican church in the village of Icklingham, Suffolk, England. It is no longer used for regular church services, which is why it's called a redundant church. It's a very important historical building, listed as Grade I, meaning it's one of the most special buildings in the country. The Churches Conservation Trust looks after it now. You can find the church on the highest spot in the village, right next to the A1101 road. This road used to be an ancient path called Icknield Way.
Contents
History of All Saints' Church
Imagine, people have been using this area for a very long time! A Roman Christian graveyard was found here. Also, a lead baptismal font was discovered on the same site. You can even see this ancient font in the British Museum.
Some parts of the church, especially in the main area called the nave, are very old. They date back to the 11th or 12th century, built in the Norman style. The church was mostly rebuilt in the 14th century. This was a time when the area was very rich. A small entrance building, called a south porch, was added in the 15th century.
The church has not been used for over 100 years. Its parish (the area it served) joined with the other church in the village, St James. All Saints' Church was officially declared "redundant" in the 1970s. Since the Churches Conservation Trust took care of it, its roof has been re-thatched. This means it was covered with straw in the old, traditional way.
Architecture of the Church
Outside the Church
The church is built from flint stones mixed with freestone for details. The roof is thatched. The church has a main area (the nave), a side section (south aisle) with a porch, a special area for the altar (the chancel), and a tower on the southwest side.
The tower has three levels. It has a plain top edge called a parapet and gargoyles (carved stone figures that act as water spouts). It also has strong supports called buttresses. On the lowest level of the tower, there's a simple doorway that is now blocked up. Above it is a narrow window called a lancet window. The middle level has a round window on the west side. The top level has large openings for bells with Y-shaped patterns, called Y-tracery, on each side.
The north wall of the nave still has parts from the original Norman building. You can see large areas of flint stones laid in neat rows. There are also two blocked-up lancet windows. This wall also has a doorway and windows from the 14th century. Similar windows are found on the north and south walls of the chancel. The north wall of the chancel has a doorway. The large window at the east end of the church has three sections. The east window of the south aisle has five sections and is surrounded by canopied niches. These niches show traces of color, meaning they were once painted. The south wall of the aisle has a three-section window. Under the roof's edge, there's a decorative band called a cornice with carvings of ball flowers. The porch has a doorway with flat columns (pilasters) and two-section windows on each side. The south doorway into the church is from the 14th century.
Inside the Church
Inside, the south side has a row of arches, called an arcade, with four sections. These arches rest on eight-sided columns called piers with decorative tops called capitals. On the north and south walls, there's a carved band (cornice) with many different designs.
You'll find a small basin for washing sacred vessels, called a piscina, in the south wall of the aisle. There's another one in the south wall of the chancel. Also in the chancel is a double aumbry, which is a cupboard for storing sacred items. The chancel floor has many 14th-century mosaic tiles with patterns pressed into them.
Part of the rood screen, which used to separate the nave from the chancel, is still there. There's also a door and stairs that once led to the rood loft, a platform above the screen. The limestone baptismal font is from the 14th century. It stands on five columns, and its eight-sided bowl has different carved patterns on each side. The pulpit, where sermons are given, is also eight-sided and dates from the 17th century. Some of the colorful stained glass windows are from the 14th century. The wooden benches, called pews, have carvings of poppyheads and were made between the 15th and 17th centuries.
The church has a ring of three bells. Two of these bells were made between 1424 and 1513 by Brasyers of Norwich. The third bell was made in 1608 by John Draper of Thetford.
See Also
