A Thousand Years Of Cool

In which we step out of the warm sunshine and into the cool space of Barnack Church. 

It's true: parts of this building have been here for a thousand years. Much of this long history is best viewed from outside, but on this warm day we were craving the coolness of the interior where there are many cool things to be seen too.

You enter through the south porch which, like the rest of the church, is built of the local Barnack Rag and roofed with stone from nearby Collyweston.

It's immediately obvious that you're in a very fine church indeed, and the longer you stay, and the more you look, the more wonderful things there are to see. I'll include some of the most appealing, though I'm well aware that there are more things than I noticed, photographed or have room to show you here.

There's this fabulously ornate and gilded carving on the rood screen.

And there's a large and highly detailed east window which needs closer inspection. But also look at the reredos directly beneath the window. I would assume that this is all nineteenth century work. Don't strain your eyes; we can see some of the detail close up...

Here's the Nativity depicted in stained glass.

It's these mosaic angels that really steal the show though.

I would love to know exactly what instrument is being played above. Some sort of zither perhaps.

Stone sculptures, from the very ancient and crude to more recent work can be seen all over the walls. L to R: St Peter with his keys, Madonna and Child, St George. Just look at the tiny raised hand of Jesus - isn't that perfect?

There's some nifty carving in even some of the most inaccessible places, like around the tops of the pillars in the nave. But there's one particular piece of stone that is justly famous....

In the 1930s, when some restoration work was being done, this carved representation of Christ in Majesty was literally un-earthed from beneath the church floor. No one knows how or when it got there and no one is quite sure exactly how old it is. Stylistically it's said to be Saxon, but guesses at its precise date range from 900 AD to 1300AD. Dating it is difficult as there's so little work from this period surviving. It must have once been painted as traces of colour can be seen on the left shin and the torso. 

I've played with the above picture on the computer to make its detail a bit clearer. It's a monument to a husband and wife, who are shown at their prayer desks with their family ranged behind them. The man's hands are enormous, which is supposed to represent his piety.

I'm not sure why, but I don't photograph many pulpits. I liked the way this one fits in with the steps and the items arranged around it.

The font is older than I thought it was - thirteenth century according to the British Listed Buildings website. If you type in the name of a village or town in the UK into Google (or whatever) and add "listed buildings" it will give you a handy map of where the historic buildings are concentrated. Click on any one and you'll get a detailed, though very dry and academic, description of that building. Very useful.

Painted organ pipes, a crudely carved grotesque and a pretty bench end, complete my photos of the interior of the church. Lets go back out into the sunshine.

The bottom two sections of the tower are thought to be the oldest part of the church, dating from around 1000 AD. The upper section and the spire were added about 200 years later. Even so that must make it one of the oldest spires still in existence on a British church.

There's some original Saxon carving both above and below the church clock. It looks like some kind of bird carved just below the clock. Notice also the stones placed vertically on either side, that seems to be a feature of such old buildings.

In fact the more I look at the way Saxons handled building in stone the more I feel that someone had seen it done properly elsewhere and had tried to copy it when they got home. They were of course much more familiar with building in wood and may have used techniques they'd learned there and transferred those skills to building in stone. Even so their methods clearly worked - what's more the tower is also supporting the weight of the stone spire, as well as a peal of bells, neither of which were foreseen when the tower was constructed.

Anyway, this is the door in the tower, still standing straight and square after a thousand years. Which is pretty cool in itself, I think.

We made our way out through the churchyard, which has some elaborately decorated gravestones. Part of the churchyard is being managed for nature, incidentally, but I somehow didn't get any photos of that.

And we'll end with a look back at the church from the village street.

Take care.