St Nicholas Church, Buckenham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Nicholas Church, Buckenham |
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St Nicholas Church from the southeast
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| OS grid reference | TG 356 058 |
| Location | Buckenham, Norfolk |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Churches Conservation Trust |
| History | |
| Dedication | Saint Nicholas |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Redundant |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 25 September 1962 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Norman, Gothic |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Flint, conglomerate and brick Limestone dressings Tiled roofs |
St Nicholas Church is an old Anglican church in the village of Buckenham, Norfolk, England. It is a very special building, listed as Grade I, which means it's historically important. The Churches Conservation Trust looks after it today. You can find this church standing among fields, north of the River Yare.
Contents
History of St Nicholas Church
This church was built a long, long time ago, in the 13th century (the 1200s)! It has had some changes and additions over the years. In the early 19th century (the 1800s), it was repaired and updated.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the church faced some tough times. It started to decay and was damaged by vandalism. But since the Churches Conservation Trust took over, many repairs have been done to protect it. A person named Reverend Thomas Henry Sparshott worked as a curate (a type of priest) here between 1872 and 1873.
Architecture and Design
St Nicholas Church is built mostly from flint, which is a common stone in England. It also uses some conglomerate (a rock made of pebbles) and brick. The special decorative parts are made from limestone. The roofs are covered with tiles.
The church has a main area called the nave, and a smaller section at the east end called the chancel. There's also a small room on the north side called a vestry, which used to be a porch. At the west end, there's a tower.
The Octagonal Tower
The church's tower is quite unique because it's completely octagonal (eight-sided). Each side of the top part of the tower has a narrow window called a lancet. There's another lancet window lower down on the west side. The top of the tower has a battlemented edge, which looks like the top of a castle wall.
The tower also has a doorway on its west side in the Norman style. This doorway might have been moved from another part of the church. It has special carved designs called scalloped capitals and zig-zag patterns on the arch. Inside the top part of the tower, there's a 17th-century (1600s) dovecote. This dovecote is lined with brick boxes where doves used to nest. On the south side, between the tower and the nave, there's a brick stair turret (a small tower) for stairs.
Windows and Doors
The windows in the nave have two sections with fancy stone patterns called tracery, which is typical of the Decorated style. On the south side of the nave, between the windows, there's another Norman doorway with zig-zag patterns.
The chancel has different types of windows. Its north and south walls have two-section windows with Y-shaped tracery. There are also three-section windows with Perpendicular tracery, which is a later Gothic style. The large east window has five sections. The east gable (the triangular part of the wall) has funny or scary carvings called grotesques. Above the east window, you can see a head-corbel (a carved support) and a blocked-up niche (a small alcove). The vestry has two-section windows on its north and south sides.
On the north wall of the nave, there's an Early English doorway. This doorway has a special decoration called dog-tooth ornament. All around the church, you'll see stepped buttresses, which are supports built into the walls.
Inside the Church
The nave and chancel have ceilings with wooden panels. These panels are decorated with stencilled patterns. The screen in the tower area is from the 19th century (1800s) and is in the Perpendicular style.
On the south wall of the chancel, you'll find a trefoil-headed piscina (a basin for washing sacred vessels) and a sedilia (seats for priests). On the north wall, there's a monument from 1707. The communion rail, which separates the altar area, is made of stone and dates from the 19th century. At the bottom of the altar steps, there are old coffin slabs set into the floor.
The pulpit (where sermons are given) and the box pews (enclosed seats) are from the 18th century (1700s). The font, used for baptisms, is from the 15th century (1400s). It has an octagonal bowl, and each side is carved with a seated figure under an ogee arch (a special curved arch). The stem of the font also has carved figures, some standing and some seated.
The church once had a bell that was cast around 1290. It was one of the oldest bells in East Anglia! Sadly, it was stolen in the 1970s. The beautiful stained glass windows were made by S. C. Yarington of Norwich. Much of this glass was damaged in the 1970s, but some pieces have been saved and put back into the upper parts of the windows.
See also
