March and Oxburgh

We had one day off during our week in Ely, and lo and behold, it rained. We had sweated away in the choir school during the first two days, but on Thursday it was another matter. Some of us took the train to Cambridge, some stayed at Ely to explore whatever there was to explore, to do some shopping, or just to relax and prepare for the next three days of singing. I had been to Cambridge several times, and although it is always a delight to be there, I would rather go during term time to be able to go to Evensong in one of the chapels. Besides, I reckoned that now I had a chance to see several interesting villages in the area, and I might never have that chance again. Cambridge would have to wait. So with a friend we set off for March. March isn't at all interesting although at one time it was famous for its railway junction. But just south of March is the St. Wendreda. The church is world famous for its magnificent double-hammer beam roof and together with 120 carved angels it is regarded as one of the best of its kind. John Betjeman described the church as "worth cycling 40 miles in a head wind to see".

At first we missed it and ended up in the town centre. So we turned back and it was just as well we did. The church is not particularly exciting, except for its roof which is truly magnificent. Apart from the carved angels at the end of the beams, the angels along the walls all have different musical instruments. It was quite a challenge to photograph them, so we both ended up lying on our backs in the middle of the floor, fortunately carpeted. Kneelers make wonderful head rests, I discovered.

The double hammer beam roof construction was built between 1470 and 1520. The beams are adorned with 118 angels, in addition to saints and apostles. There are angels' wings on the wall posts, wings on the hammers and wings on the tops of the tie-beams.  

A winged St. Caecilia?

Another odd feature is the tower which has a path through its base. There are different stories about this path. Simon Jenkins in his book "England's Thousand Best Churches", suggests that it is a processional path to avoid celebrants having to use the public road. In the church however there is an information panel claiming that the tower was built over a public footpath. Of course rights of way are sacrosanct in England. But why build a tower exactly there? So the archway at the base of the tower remains a mystery. I did not stop to take a picture of it, as the rain was coming down quite heavily.
Via country lanes we set off for Oxburgh Hall, in Oxborough, Norfolk. On our way we came across and stopped at a little church in a field near West Dereham, in contrast to East Dereham which is a market town, a hamlet if there ever was one. This is what the website says about the church.

St Andrews is a church with a growing congregation and has a Sunday service each week. It is a rural parish in a village of 360 people. The church is sited on a hill with views over the fens to Ely in the south.
St Andrews is a grade one listed round towered church. Considered by English Heritage to be one of the finest medieval churches in England. It has a nave and chancel largely unchanged since the perpendicular windows were fitted in the 15th century. Its round ironstone conglomerate tower is one of the stoutest in England and has a newly conserved Tudor brick octagonal top.
The chancel has some fine marble memorials and a magnificent statue of Sir Richard Soames carved by Singleton. The nave and chancel roof was replaced in 1902 after the old roof collapsed. The Porch has a fine brick gable and with the North Nave windows was restored in 2011
St Andrews has a light airy feel and is truly a place suitable for the glory of God

We walked round it and admired the very unusual tower. And peered through the windows. But contrary to the walls of Jericho, the church doors did not open. Walking around it did not help. I must admit we could have obtained a key, as there was a note on the door telling us where to find it. But we had other plans. We took some pictures but the one on their website is perhaps the best as the light on the gravestones is so beautiful.

When we were there it was dry, but only just, so my pictures are rather dull. What fascinated me were the peculiar slatted windows in the octagonal top of the round tower. And seeing a blocked up door at the back of the church, I wondered about its history. No answers so far.

Gravestones at the foot of the tower

The next stop was Oxburgh Hall, now a National Trust property. CastleUKnet provides the following information:

Originally it was a 13th century fortified manor house, founded by the de Weyland family. In 1482, King Edward IV, granted Sir Edmund Bedingfeld a license to crenellate and he founded a brick quadrangular fortress, encased by a wide moat. Flanking the north range, is a magnificent unaltered three storey gatehouse, which is also flanked on the front angles by high octagonal towers. The hall was damaged during the Civil War and its two storey ranges were extensively rearranged and given Victorian Gothic decoration, in the 18th and 19th century.

The Bedingfields were Catholics, which accounts for the priest hole which visitors can slide down into. I wasn't so brave, but my friend was. I didn't mind sliding in so much, but thought the crawling out might pose a problem!  How awful to be cooped up here for even weeks on end. The castle is interesting, but so are the beautiful formal gardens around it, the moat and the little stream. Amazing to see a man reading a newspaper in front of one of the remarkably big and light windows. The castle is still lived in and by the looks of it, it can be no hardship living there, apart from being peered at by lots of visitors during the opening hours. So only part of it is open to the public, but that part is well worth seeing.

Pictures taken on a sunny day in August 2005

There is a restaurant as well which had stopped serving lunch by the time we arrived so that we had to make do with scones and toasted teacakes. The chapel with the most beautiful altarpiece was also closed when we emerged from the house. No one told us it would close half an hour before the house did.

Oxborough village itself boasts a church which was partly destroyed and hasn't been restored. The tower and part of the nave just collapsed in 1948. But in the part that remains, among which the Bedingfield Chapel, there is an unusual terracotta altarpiece and choir screen, the likes of which I had never seen before. We did not explore it this time, but I had done so a few years earlier when I was in the area.

Bedingfield Chapel

The restaurant opposite the entrance to the Hall had gone out of business and was boarded up – not our lucky day for restaurants apparently - , so we made our way back to Ely to end a very rewarding day with a pub meal.