Our Homeland Churches and How to Study ThemHeath, Sidney
Religion
Our Homeland Churches and How to Study Them
Heath, Sidney
Church architecture -- Great Britain
The church of ---- is prettily situated on rising ground some quarter of
a mile north of the village, and on the main road to ---- . It is
approached by a picturesque timber lych-gate, and consists of nave,
aisles and chancel, having a side chapel to the north and a single
transept to the south. At the west end is a Decorated tower and spire.
There are two porches, one on the north side and the other on the west,
which last has a niche for a figure over the doorway and seats on either
side. The nave is Perpendicular, as is the greater part of the rest of
the fabric. Above the nave rises a lofty and noble clerestory, divided
from the aisles by five rather obtusely-pointed arches supported by
richly moulded piers with small moulded capitals. Each bay of the
clerestory contains two three-light windows of late Perpendicular date.
The roof is flat pitched and is of oak, the principals are adorned with
panelled tracery and show vestiges of ancient colour decoration. The
windows of the aisles are late Decorated in style; they are of three
lights, the traceries elegant and richly moulded. The east window is
Perpendicular and is much sub-divided by mullions and transoms; in the
upper portions are some heraldic coats of arms, which appear to have
formed part of a much earlier window. The chancel is divided from the
nave by a fine open oak screen, coeval with the larger part of the
building. It is richly carved and gilded, and in the right-hand side of
the chancel arch are the steps which formerly led up to the top of it.
The chancel, together with its chapel, is vaulted in stone with well
marked ribs and carved bosses. The transept, late Perpendicular, opens
into the south side of the nave by a four-centred arch, and has a
rich flat ceiling. In the chancel is a piscina of Early English date,
together with a sedilia of the same period. On the north side of the
chancel, resting on the floor, is a cross-legged effigy, in chain mail,
surcoat, etc., and bearing on his left arm a shield, but all much
mutilated. There is a local tradition that it represents Sir ----, but
there is no evidence by which he can be identified. Features of the
church are the many highly carved bench ends, all in oak, representing a
great variety of subjects, such as dragons, serpents, etc., while a few
bear the arms of local families who probably bore the cost of the work.
The pulpit is Jacobean, and has no special feature. The font, which
stands in the centre of the nave, is square in form and is supported by
a modern round plinth. It is constructed of marble, the four sides being
carved in low relief with intersecting patterns. It is possibly of
Norman date, and is the only existing feature of a much earlier church.
The tower and spire are Decorated; the latter is of stone with four
pinnacles at the base, and has a little coronal of pinnacles. The belfry
windows are arranged in pairs on each side of the tower. The tower or
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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