St Gregory's Church, Heckingham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Gregory's Church, Heckingham |
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St Gregory's Church, Heckingham, from the southeast
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| OS grid reference | TM 385 988 |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| History | |
| Dedication | Saint Gregory |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 5 September 1960 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Norman |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Flint with limestone dressings, some red brick Thatched roofs |
St Gregory's Church is an old church in Heckingham, Norfolk, England. It's not used for regular services anymore, but it's a very important historical building. It's looked after by a group called the Churches Conservation Trust. You can find it on a small hill, looking over the River Chet.
A Look Back in Time
This church was first built a very long time ago, in the 1100s! Most of what you see today is from the 1100s and 1200s. Later, around the 1400s, a porch was added to the south side.
Church Design
Outside the Church
The church is built from flint stones, with limestone around the windows and doors. Some parts also use red brick. The roofs are made of thatch, which is dried plant material.
The church has a main hall called the nave. On the north side, there's a smaller area called an aisle. There's also a porch on the south side. At the east end, there's a chancel with a rounded end, called an apse. At the west end, there's a tower.
The bottom part of the tower, from the 1100s, is round. The top two-thirds were added later and are eight-sided. It has brick corners. The openings for the bells are tall, narrow windows called lancets. There are also two lancet windows lower down on the west side.
The porch has a pointed roof and shields carved above the door. There are also windows on its east and west sides that have been filled in. On the south wall of the nave, there's a window with three sections from the 1400s, and another lancet window.
The rounded chancel is divided into five sections by flat stone strips that act like supports. In the south section, there's a window with two lights and Y-shaped stone patterns. The southeast section has a lancet window and a special stone tablet. The window at the very east end has two lights with fancy stone patterns. The northeast section has a small lancet window, and the north section has a two-light window with curved tops.
The north aisle has windows with Y-shaped patterns from around 1300. On its north wall, there's a two-light window with Y-shaped patterns, two lancet windows, and a round-topped doorway from the 1100s that is now blocked up.
The south doorway, also from the 1100s, is very beautiful. It has four rows of pillars and arches decorated with zigzags, stars, and other shapes. It's thought that the same person who built this doorway also built the one at St Margaret's Church, Hales, which is nearby and also very impressive.
Inside the Church
Inside, the church has an arcade with three sections. These are pointed arches supported by square pillars without fancy tops. The chancel ceiling is smooth and curved, while the nave ceiling is made of wooden boards.
In the southeast corner of the nave, there's a space where stairs used to lead up to a rood loft. This was a platform above the main part of the church. At the east end of the aisle, there's a raised area with some old medieval tiles and a memorial stone. The rest of the aisle is partly paved with stone slabs that were once coffin lids, and more memorials.
The font, where baptisms take place, is probably from the 1100s. It has a square bowl on top of an eight-sided stand and four small pillars, all on a square base. In the nave, there's a small metal plaque from 1407, which is a type of memorial. The colorful stained glass in the east window was added in 1910 and shows the Annunciation, which is when the Angel Gabriel told Mary she would have a baby.
See also
