This large church is close to Hay Hill where my last Norwich post came from. It is the largest of the thirty-one Church of England churches in Norwich and is often mistaken for one of the two cathedrals.
The building was begun in 1430 and was consecrated in 1455, a twenty-five year single phase of construction which gives the church its unity of style. There have been only a few additions to the exterior of the building since then, notably the little spire on top of the tower (a fleche), the parapet round the top of the tower and the ‘pepperpots’ on the corners added by the architect A E Street in 1895.
This church wasn’t the first to be built on this site. One of William the Conqueror’s barons, Ralph de Guader, Earl of Norwich, had had a church built there in 1075 but shortly afterwards he lost everything he had after rebelling against the Conqueror. Fortunately he had already bestowed the church on one of his chaplains, Wala, who fled to Gloucester after the rebellion. Wala passed the church on to the Abbey of St Peter in Gloucester and so for 300 years this church was known as ‘St Peter of Gloucester in Norwich’ – quite a mouthful! After pressure from the citizens of Norwich in 1388, the church was passed to the Benedictine Community of St-Mary-in-the-Fields in Norwich whose church (long since destroyed) was where the Assembly Room and the Theatre Royal are now. The Dean and Chapter of St Mary’s found the old church dilapidated and in very poor condition and so decided to re-build. It took them 42 years to save enough money through gifts, legacies and donations to be able to start the construction work.
I include here a link to an aerial map of St Peter Mancroft (marked in purple).
During the Reformation the College of St-Mary-in-the-Field was suppressed and the patronage of St Peter Mancroft was passed through several families until 1581 when it was acquired by trustees on behalf of the parishioners. The church was originally the church of St Peter and St Paul but the name was shortened to St Peter after the two saints were given independent saints days during the Reformation. ‘Mancroft’ probably came from the ‘Magna Crofta’ (great meadow) on which it was built.
The church is almost completely faced with limestone which was brought many miles over land and sea at great expense. (There is no local free-stone in Norfolk). It was a deliberate display of wealth on the part of the 15th century citizens of Norwich. There is some knapped flint flushwork decoration most notably on the tower which is well buttressed and was probably intended to carry another lantern stage The tower also carries a peal of 14 bells.
There are two fine porches to the church on the north and south sides. The North Porch has a parvaise (a room over the porch).
It is 60′ from floor to roof and has eight arched bays with slender columns. The church is also very long at 180′.
Richard, Elinor and I visited the church on a very rainy day last week. Amazingly, the church was warm inside! Even the cathedral doesn’t get as cosy as St Peter Mancroft.
The font was a gift to the church in 1463 by John Cawston, a grocer from Norwich. The Seven Sacraments were carved on panels round the font basin and an eighth panel showed the ‘Sun in Splendour’, the badge of Henry IV. Eight saints were carved on the shaft of the font. Sadly, the Puritans hacked off all the images, plastered the font with lime and daubed it with black paint. It was found in the crypt with other rubbish in 1926 and was cleaned and put in its present position. The four pillars and the base of the canopy over the font were made in the 15th century but the upper part of the woodwork is 19th century Victorian work.
I apologise for the poor quality of the photos in the slideshow but all of the objects were in glass cases in the St Nicholas Chapel. These objects are just a few of the many treasures owned by the church and known as the Mancroft Heritage.
This chapel is normally used for weekday services.
The Reredos (the panel behind the High Altar) has some beautiful carved figures made in 1885 and gilded in 1930 to mark the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the building of the church. At the same time the lower line of larger figures were added by Sir Ninian Comper.
This roof (and the roof of the Nave) is of open timbered construction supported by hammer beams. Most hammer beam roofs are ornamented and uncovered but this one is covered by fan tracery or vaulting in wood. Most fan traceries are made from stone so this roof is very rare. It is also an angel roof – there is a single row of small angels on either side of the Nave roof but a double row on either side of the Chancel. There are also gilded suns in splendour on the ridge bosses. The roof was restored in 1962 -64. Some amazing work was done then by the restorers who raised the roof on jacks and then pulled the walls straight which had been driven outwards by the weight of the roof over the centuries.
I have discovered a quote of Sir Thomas Browne’s from his treatise ‘Urn-Burial’ at the beginning of Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’.
The most memorable sight in the church is that of the Great East Window.
It has 39 tracery lights (windows/panes of glass) and 42 main lights, all of which are 15th century except seven main lights which are Victorian. The Victorian ones are the lower five in the centre colomn and the two bottom ones either side of the centre colomn. This window contains some of the finest work by the 15th century School of Norwich Glass Painters. Most of the church would have originally been full of glass like this but during rioting between Puritans and Royalists in 1648 there was a gunpowder explosion nearby in a house in Bethel Street which left many people dead and much of the glass in the church blown in. It wasn’t until four years later that the glass was gathered together from around the church and most put into this window.
Please click on this link to see each light in detail.
I am obliged and indebted to the Church Guide I purchased in St Peter Mancroft for some of the information in this post.
Thanks for visiting!
quercuscommunity said:
Ah, the Civil War, what would our churches be like without it?
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clarepooley33 said:
😀
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womanseyeview said:
What fascinating history and so interesting to consider what an important role this church played in people’s lives over the centuries. Thanks for the tour.
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clarepooley33 said:
My pleasure and thank-you! There are so many churches in Norwich but not all of them have done as well as this one. I think that its proximity to the Guildhall and City Hall has helped it.
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Karen's Nature Art said:
Beautiful church- and what patience to save for 42 years to fix it up!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Karen! Yes, their patience was great and I don’t expect those that started the fund were around to see the church being built.
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Julie said:
I visited this Church aged 17, more years ago than I care to count and recall the beautiful impression the interior and especially the ceiling made on me then, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane Clare, thanks for posting this. Did you get snow yesterday? We haven’t any but 3 days forecast of dry and sunshine, I hope you have some good weather too.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Julie – I am glad this brought you good memories. We had a lot of very wet snow and terrible gales which blew our 4-seater hard-wood bench right over! This morning no snow on the ground but ice and snow on the window-sills and up the walls. Cold but very beautiful today – sunshine!! Hope you had a lovely day!
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susanpoozan said:
Thanks for a most interesting and thoughtful tour, I must visit Norwich sooner rather than later.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Susan; you are very kind. Norwich is full of interesting buildings and fortunately not a very big city. It is a bit hilly which often surprises people.
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Jill Weatherholt said:
What a beautiful church, I loved reading its history. The East Window is magnificent. Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos, Clare.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Jill – it is my pleasure! The East Window is really lovely. I plan to go back on a bright morning to see what it looks like with sunshine through it.
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Jill Weatherholt said:
I’m sure it will be beautiful.
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clarepooley33 said:
🙂
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quietsolopursuits said:
The grandeur of this church is amazing! The history of it is also quite a story in itself. You had to have put a lot of work into this post, and your photos really convey a sense of both the grandeur and history of the church, so thank you very much for putting this post together for us!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Jerry – you are most kind! It did take a while to put it together mainly because most of the time I was trying to think which bits to remove to shorten it! It is a beautiful church and I can well believe that some people mistake it for the cathedral.
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tootlepedal said:
An impressive building.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you. It is most imposing.
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New Hampshire Garden Solutions said:
It’s really amazing that such a large church could have been built in 25 years. I’ve heard of cathedrals taking hundreds of years to build.
It’s beautiful though, no matter how long it took. I like the fan tracery in the roof and of course the east window. The people of Norwich are very lucky.
Thanks for an excellent tour!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Allen. It was a marvellous feat to have built it so quickly but the city was a very rich one at the time and it could afford to pay for the best materials and the best craftsmen.
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Lavinia Ross said:
Thank you for the tour, Clare! What beautiful old churches, and so much history! The amount of labor and craftsmanship that went into them is mind boggling.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Lavinia. It is especially amazing that the church was finished in 25 years.
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greytabby1 said:
What a beautifully detailed post Clare. You have such a love of history and it really shows through in these posts. What a wonderful old church. The craftsmanship that went into it, both originally and then with the restoration is quite staggering. I was really taken with the beautiful font and font canopy. I actually have never seen a canopy and I was wondering what the history is of them – is this something unusual and also what would the original purpose of the canopy have been? It’s quite amazing the damage that was done during the Reformation isn’t it? When you think of the damage done to all the churches at that time and all the craftsmanship that would have been lost as a result – very sad. Again, another wonderful post! Thank you.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Kate. Font canopies are very rare. I’m not sure that many churches had them in the middle ages because they were costly to make and I would have thought that they would have been something that the Protestants would not have approved of during the Reformation and at the time of the Civil War. I am not at all sure what their purpose is/was except it may have been an extra protection for the Holy Water in the basin from dust and dirt. The water would have been placed in the font at Easter-time and blessed and then the same water used for all baptisms for a year. By law every font was expected to have a cover and most had just a lid on the font.
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Ste J said:
I love church and cathedral architecture, it always looks so intricate and beautiful. We really do have so much wonderful history that it is a pleasure to learn more about it. It is a shame that the modern architecture doesn’t attempt to compliment the older buildings though.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Ste. Our towns and cities are such a hotch-potch of different styles. Norwich has its fair share of horrendous 60’s and 70’s architecture. The new Forum isn’t too bad and is admired by many. Some even think it complements St Peter Mancroft though I don’t know that I would go as far as that.
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Ste J said:
Hotch-potch is a good word. I will always gravitate to those older buildings, althugh this year I have yet to go anywhere, holidays must be put in soon!
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clarepooley33 said:
We have just booked our holiday – nine days in the Black Forest
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Ste J said:
Now that’s a blast from the past! Bring back gateau!
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clarepooley33 said:
Oh yes!
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colorpencil2014 said:
Lovely post with beautiful photos!! A wonderful sniff of Medieval building master art! Thank you so much Clare! Xo Johanna
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Johanna! I am glad you liked it. Clare xx
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Julie said:
Lovely bell ringing! Being from the state of Michigan, we do not have a history that goes back that far. Beautiful.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Julie. I am pleased you liked it and am grateful for your visit and kind comment. Clare
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thehappymeerkat said:
Really lovely pictures. I have to say I love just standing in old churches, cathedrals and castles and just being there when it’s quiet trying to imagine what it was like in the past. It still retains that awe I’m sure people have always felt being in there :).
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much! I enjoy the atmosphere in these old places too. I also try to visit when it’s quiet though sadly that isn’t always possible.
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thehappymeerkat said:
I try to visit places during term time. I know a lot of people can’t but places like castles just have too much noise when school aged kids are there.
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clarepooley33 said:
I know what you mean!
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Lisa G. said:
What a beautiful place! The Jesus chapel has an interesting set-up, with the chairs along the sides.
42 years to save up enough money! They had patience. 🙂
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Lisa – they were very patient! I quite liked the set up in the side chapel – I would have thought it was quite an intimate experience with everyone facing each other and the priest or reader in the centre. Sometimes in our church when we have mid-week services we all go up and sit in the choir stalls – very cosy!
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clarepooley33 said:
Hello Lisa. Your blogspot address is attached to the comment you made on this post of mine. I have visited your blog and love it very much. I tried to comment on it but doubt if you received it as each time I pressed publish it kept reverting to preview! Do let me know if a) you received my comment or b) there is a knack to commenting on Blogspot that I haven’t been able to figure out! I would love to follow your blog with your permission and I’ve bookmarked your Blogspot address. I am a bit of a muggins when it comes to computers! Clare
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Lisa G. said:
Clare, I’m sorry but I just came back here and saw your message. Email me, please. I may know something – we’ll see. 🙂
searchinglisat@gmail.com
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Lisa – will do
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Draws Shoots and Leaves said:
Thank you for taking the time to post all this information, it is so easy to pass by an ancient church and not be aware of the weight of history and continuity it demonstrates. We are doing an organised walk on 28th January organised by Ipswich Tourist Centre on ‘Our Glorious Churches’ which will tell us about the wonderful churches of Ipswich (of which there are an amazing number) – wonderful buildings….
Sue
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Sue! The walk through Ipswich sounds wonderful! I must really stir my stumps and get down to Ipswich soon.
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Gallivanta said:
What fascinates me is the time it took to build the church. We don’t seem to have that long term view or patience anymore. If a new building for church or community is needed we must build it as quickly as possible. Or so it seems to me.
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clarepooley33 said:
I think we would love to build quickly here but money restrictions and the interference from all sorts of ‘experts’ tend to delay things still. In our church at Rumburgh we received a legacy and request to add another bell to our belfry. This was carried out in the year 2000/01. To stop the dust and cold entering the main body of the church a large plastic screen was put up between the tower and the nave. This made us think that it would be nice to have a permanent glass screen there so we started fund raising. About two years ago we had nearly enough so put the design and request forward for acceptance. The church architects rejected it saying it wasn’t in keeping with the church and suggested a design that increased the price by thousands of pounds!
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Gallivanta said:
Oh, we know that scenario only too well!!!!!
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Cynthia Reyes said:
Such a stunningly beautiful building, inside and out, Clare. I can imagine the level of craft and the amount of time and money it took to create this.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Cynthia. It was not only a labour of love and done for the love of God but also with a lot of secular vainglory!
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Cecilia said:
What beautiful pictures, thank you so much for sharing.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much Cecilia.
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Orts and Gribbles said:
Fascinating! I love going round Churches and, aside from Norwich Cathedral, I’ve never visited any in Norwich so how nice to have an online tour. I can easily see how it could be confused for a Cathedral!
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you! I’m glad you liked it.
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hermitsdoor said:
A blogging friend, Cynthia, recommended your site. Thanks for sharing you perspectives on the St. Peter Mancroft Church. Though I have not been through this region of England, I have grand memories of attending Evensong services at several churchs (Tweksburgy, Evesham, Worchester…) while doing a narrow boat trip on the Avon-Ring. We even wandered into the Sunday service at the churhc in Wooton-Wawen, at which the ministor looked at us in our rain slickers and smiled, “You must be touring on a narrow boat”… how did he know… guess it was our American dialect.
Oscar
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you so much for your kind comments Oscar. One of my cousins goes narrow-boating every year and has great fun. You get to see such a lot of the country by travelling on the canals.
Best wishes, Clare
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lundygirl said:
thank you for a great tour Clare – I feel as if I’ve been there. Great photos. I do love old church buildings – there is something so amazing about their proportions that makes them seem both huge spaces and intimate places at the same time.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you Rachel. I like your description very much. They can be awe-inspiring and cosy too – especially the side chapels.
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reggie unthank said:
A little late but I just came across your fascinating blog. As a fellow Norwichite I share your love of St Peter Mancroft -wonderful church.
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clarepooley33 said:
Thank-you very much for taking the time to comment.
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