Porch - North Arcade - Nave - Tower - South Transept - North Transept -
Chancel- The Helmet - Outside

 

In the 11th Century a Norman Church was built on this site facing east, towards Jerusalem. It may have been built by William Montfichet and would likely have had a chancel with a tower over it and a nave separated from tower and chancel by a nave arch. This structure was transformed into a cruciform shape in 1270, which became particularly popular during the Middle Ages.

As is common with many cruciform churches the chancel was built slightly off centre. If you stand under the western window of the nave facing east you will notice that the arch of the East window is not directly in line with its counterpart in the western window. This is not an example of poor medieval workmanship, but rather was meant to represent the leaning of Jesus' head to the right as he hung on the cross. The Cruciform Church not only symbolises the cross. It is meant to enclose the body of Christ, the members of the Church, and to remind them that as members of his body they too died on the cross.

The Congregation of St. Mary's has found many uses for the space between these walls over the years, but this has always been a place of sanctuary, prayer, and worship.

Porch
This porch was added to the church when the North Aisle was added to the cruciform shape in the fifteenth century. The North door of the church with its ancient lock dates from 1270. It once led directly into the nave, but was likely moved to its present location when the North Aisle was added. Above the arch of the North door is a piece of a Sepulchral Slab of a Saxon date. Hitch has argued that it is a coffin lid, but medieval wooden coffins had no lids (they were re-usable). The Saxons did not write on their Sepulchre Slabs, which were marked only with the cross; and many of these slabs were reused by medieval workers wherever a large flat stone was needed. The capital preserved within the church is also of Norman date. It was "found by the Rev. A.C. Yorke in the yard of the Chequers Inn where it was used to prop open the gate." It is possible that the capital was a part of the original Norman Church, which was given to The Chequers Inn by the Lord of the Manor with a collection of old material from the fabric of the church during one of the many renovation or building projects.

North Arcade/aisle
The North arcade was added to the cruciform shape of the church around 1350. It may once have been used for a smaller space for worship, which directly faced the East window of the North transept, and the altar which once stood there. The font is from the 15th century and still bears small bits of paint, which once decorated it. It is made of clunch and lined with lead. The West window, immediately behind the font, was given by the Misses Saville, daughters of the Rev. Arthur Saville, a former rector of St. Mary's. It was dedicated on September 9, 1928 to the memory of their father and mother, their three brothers and a former nurse named Sarah Jones. The window in the North wall of the aisle was given in memory of Mrs. Marie Swann, by her children, in November 1987. It is designed to reflect Mrs. Swann's artistic talents and to evoke appreciation of the natural world. The swan has a symbolic association with the village as well as her name.

Nave
The present nave stands on the spot of the earliest Norman Nave, but has been expanded over the years. The West and South walls of the nave date were placed in their current position by 1270. In the South wall are three windows. The two westernmost windows and the South Door were added around 1300. The easternmost window is higher than the others and dates from about 1330. The clerestory was added in the fifteenth century when the roof of the nave was raised. The west window dates from the fifteenth century and was probably added when the clerestory was built.

On the East wall of the Nave, above the tower arch, are painted the Ten Commandments, the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer. While such works of art were not unknown in the middle ages, this particular effort is characteristic of those painted following Queen Elizabeth's order of 22 January, 1560-1 "for the edification and decoration of Churches". Both the placement on the eastern wall of the Nave and style of painting "in black letter with ornamental boarders" mark it as characteristic Elizabethan work.

The pulpit, which once stood in the south-eastern corner of the tower was moved into the Nave where it stood, on the South side, until it was moved to it's current position by Rev. Yorke in 1911.

Tower
The tower was built in stages during the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. The Battlement on the North exterior of the tower bears the mullet of the De Veres family in Flint and Stone. The Bell-Chamber contains five bells which read "1704 Thomas Newman made me", only four of which are now in use. The tenor bell is cracked and has not been in use since at least 1860 when Mrs. Saville, the wife of the rector, notes the purchase of four new bell ropes.

The Chancel Screen is of early 15th century construction, with tracery of a later date." It is possible that the medieval rood (crucifix) was supported by a wooden beam above this screen, and was removed by Dowsing. The cross which stands on top of it has been added since the time when Rev. Saville was rector, perhaps under the influence of the Cambridge Camden Society during the period of liturgical revival which took place in the early years of the twentieth century. (The water-colour painting of the inside of the church Mrs. Saville painted which can be found on the West wall of the Nave and shows the rood screen with tracery but no cross.)

The North, South and East arches of the tower date from the 13th century. The Nave arch was presumably Norman and remained in place after the transepts were added and the chancel was lengthened. In 1350, when the North Aisle was added, the lower and older Norman arch would have obstructed the view of the high altar for those sitting in the North Aisle and it is likely that the existing nave arch replaced the Norman one at this time. A carved, stone face can be seen on the East Side of the South arch. This may have served as a shelf on which to place a candle to light the pulpit which stood in this corner of the tower until 1911. The remains of a similar stone can be found directly opposite it on the West Side of the South arch. Another possibility is that these stones once supported a parclose screen which separated the Lady Chapel in the South Transept from the tower. If that is the case, the screen, which was built in 1995, may be thought of as a replacement for a Parclose Screen which separated the Lady Chapel from the Tower during Medieval times.

Beneath the wooden floorboards of the tower lie tiles like those that make up the floor of the Chancel and Nave. The weather vane which stands at the peak of the steeple was made by Mr. Cyril Cooper in the 1980s to replace the one which had been there since 1759. The main Eucharist now takes place at the altar under the tower.

South Transept
The South Transept once served as a chapel for the Blessed Virgin Mary which was maintained by the Guild of St. Mary, which was active in Fowlmere in the medieval period. It is of a slightly younger date than the North Transept and very likely constructed ca. 1300 and was re-built in the 15th century by Elizabeth, Countess of Oxford whose husband was beheaded in 1462. The niche in the East wall once contained a statue of St. Mary which was very likely destroyed by Dowsing. The South window contains a shield (likely 14th century) which depicts the instruments of the Passion, but was not destroyed by Dowsing, presumably because he mistook it for a coat of arms rather than a piece of religious symbolism. The piscina in the South wall marks the place where the altar dedicated to Mary once stood. Beneath the wooden floor lies a small floor slab dedicated to Peter Wedd who was buried on January 6, 1742.

In the early part of the twentieth century, the Rev. Yorke obtained permission from the Diocese to convert the South transept into space to be used for the meeting of a Sunday school with 45 pupils. In November 1911 Rev. Yorke wrote to the Bishop asking for permission to remove the pews from the North and South transepts which had been installed between 1860 and 1880 and faced the tower. His request was granted and the pews were "cut down to suit the children's legs" and turned to face East in three blocks for use by three separate classes.

In 1945 the organ in the chancel was replaced by one occupying the space under the South arch of the tower after the departure of Rev. Yorke only to be moved again to its present location in 1995. The South Transept is now a 'multi-use space' in which the Sunday school takes place much as they were in Rev. Yorke's day aswell as informal worship, meetings and refreshments after Family Services etc.

This is an important part of church life at the end of the Twentieth Century when more children than ever before lived in the village.

North Transept
The North Transept once served as a chantry chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist and was maintained by Fowlmere's other medieval guild, the Guild of St. John. The North Transept commands the North aisle, in which a congregation could sit while a service was conducted at the altar under the East Window of the North Transept. The East Window of the North Transept still contains some fourteenth century fragments of red and silver stained glass. The North window contains the only cedilla in the church. In 1442 John Dyer left a few shillings for a lamp to be placed before the image of St. John that was likely placed on the small shelf near the right hand niche. Both niches are from the fourteenth century. Perhaps the image of St. Mary and St. John once stood on either side of the East Window before the South Transept was built. A figure of St. Peter may have occupied the niche when St. Mary was moved into the Lady Chapel.

In the floor of the North Transept there are two stone tablets dedicated to members of the Maiden family who were buried here between 1684 and 1693. There is also an inscription dedicated to Elizabeth Westley who "departed this life April ye 24, 1734." Above these grave stones once hung an Achievement of Arms of the Westley family (which is described in the Cole Manuscript) identical to the one which hung in the Whittlesford Church from whence the family came. One John Westley, who died in 1656, was a bricklayer who built the east and south ranges and the bridge of Clare College, Cambridge.' The chest, which currently stands under the North Window, is likely of the same date as the Choir stalls in the Chancel and bears matching carving.

In 1911 the Rev. Yorke had the pews in the North Transept removed so that the space might be used for "a vestry of ample room for a choir of 24 men & boys as a Sunday school room for, say, 40 infants, it would be also used for early celebrations and seasonal instructions." He also had "the old Jacobean altar, removed from the Chancel by the late Rector, [which] has been for years lying at the rectory as 'lumber'...replaced under the E. Window of the N. transept [where] properly vested [it] will serve its purpose with seemliness." The North Transept continues to serve as a vestry for the choir. The organ was renovated and moved into it in from the South Transept in 1994, with a legacy from John Scruby,commemorated in the plaque beside it. It was originally built in the 19th Century by John Compton for a church in Westcliff-on-sea.

Chancel
The Chancel of the Norman Church probably contained an apsidial sanctuary with a curved rather than straight eastern wall. The piscina on the South wall of the chancel with the adjacent rectangular aumbry means an altar once stood nearby. It is likely that the East wall of the Norman chancel was just on the eastern side of this piscina. The Chancel was likely extended to its present place during the 13th century. As it stands, the Western part of the chancel dates from the late 12th century. The South wall of the Chancel contains four windows. The Westernmost window is the oldest, which bears the arms of the de Vere family in stained glass. This window escaped the wrath of William Dowsing and his soldiers who destroyed much of the art work in the church during a raid in 1644 because Dowsing's orders were that coats of arms should not be destroyed because they were not idolatrous decoration.

Beneath this window is a sill that has been variously described as a squint and a shelf for the sanctus bell which was rung when the host was elevated. Squints have been thought to have been places from which lepers could view the altar without entering the church, but lepers were forbidden from entering churchyards so spaces such as this one were not intended for such a purpose.

The Sanctus Bell shelf theory is supported by both Cox and Hitch but it is also possible that this shelf is the remains of a Norman sedilia. The position is correct for a sedilia which would have been replaced or moved when the chancel was lengthened and sedilia often were not architecturally distinct from window sills on which the clergy sat.

The three remaining windows date from the 13th century, when the chancel was extended.

At the far end of the South wall beside the high altar is another piscina which was added when the chancel was lengthened. This is an excellent example of the 13th century two-basin piscina. Restored in 1869, it has two moulded trefoiled arches with two basins. The two-basin piscina marks a particular point in the history of liturgy. Around 850 CE a one-basin piscina was required near every altar by Pope Leo IV for the lavabo (washing of the priest's hands before Eucharist) Pope Innocent III required that there be two piscinae, one for the disposal of the ablutions (the mixture of consecrated wine and water created as the vessels are cleansed) and one for the hand washing. A return to the one basin piscina occurred in the fourteenth century when the drinking of the ablutions became the standard practice and only one basin was needed for the lavabo. Because two basin piscinae were only in use for less than a century and many piscinae (of both types) were destroyed by reformers it is unusual to find such a treasure as this in a parish church.

Dowsing ordered the steps to the high altar to be levelled, but they were rebuilt in 1742 for the Rev. Cole who also had the altar railed in.

The helmet, which hangs above the easternmost piscina in the Chancel, is all that remains of the Mitchell family Achievement of Arms which once included surcoats, banners, swords and helmets. The Mitchells were Lords of the Manor in Fowlmere during the late 18th century. By the time of Mr. James Mitchell, who died in 1715, the Mitchell gained the right to armorial bearings which was an achievement considering the fact that his grandfather was "a scotch pedlar and carried his pack at his back". In 1870 all but the helmets were removed because of rot. Near Christmas in 1984 the two helmets were stolen, but one has been recovered since. On the North Wall of the chancel stands a monument to the Mitchell family, (made by Thomas Adey in 1745) many of whom are interred under the high altar.

Between the Mitchell monument and the altar stands the remains of the Easter Sepulchre from the 13th century, a time when every church had one. In many churches the sepulchre was wooden, but the ones of stone or built into the wall of the chancel are particularly precious because they survived when the Elizabethans used the wooden ones for firewood. Where the remains of a stone sepulchre are found they are identified by being arched openings (sometimes with ornate carvings) along the North Wall near the high altar with no grooves along the arch for the hinges of a door. During the medieval period rites using the Easter Sepulchre were carried out in every parish church. According to the practice, one consecrated host was placed in the Easter Sepulchre on Good Friday at the hour of Christ's entombment. The parishioners kept vigil at the Sepulchre until early on Sunday morning with so many candles that some churches paid a poor but devout person to guard the host and to insure that no fire was started.

The vestry was added in the 19th Century during the time when the cement, which once covered the outside walls, was removed and to be replaced by the flint and freestone which is visible today.

The East Window, made by Clayton & Bell, was donated in 1860. It is a Te Deum window, our Lord in the Tracery and three angels immediately below. The figures in the lights are Apostles, Prophets and other Biblical characters together with saints of the subsequent centuries, including one or two associated with England. It is a reminder of the history of the traditions behind the worship still offered in this building Sunday by Sunday.

The Choir Pews in the chancel match the large chest which is now kept in the North Transept. The church chest in the chancel is from the 18th Century.

Outside
Outside may be seen the 14th Century Gargoyles or groteque spouts projecting from the gutters. Rainwater disposal continues to be one of the major challeges in the building of this kind. Between 1956 and 1961 major repairs included the re-casting and re-aying of the roof . The Flint and free stone was substituted for the former rough cast in 1869-70. In 1989 another major restoration programme began with the help of English Heritage,including new downpipes, extensive repointing of the South Transept and North Clerestory walls and work on the south window. These are now complete, but more repointing will be needed.