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Summary

LATE SAXON TOWER OF ALL SAINTS' CHURCH, HEAPHAM

Full description

AL SAINTS' CHURCH HAS A SAXO-NORMAN WEST TOWER OF TWO STAGES, WITH SIDE-ALTERNATE QUOINS. OF THE WEST DOORWAY ONLY THE ARCH REMAINS. THERE IS A KEYHOLE WEST WINDOW; TWIN BELL-OPENINGS WITH MID-WALL SHAFTS (MUCH RESTORED IN 1868), AND A PLAIN ARCH TO THE NAVE. THE BIG EMBRACING BUTTRESSES ARE OF COURSE LATER. IN THE SOUTH WALL OF THE NAVE IS ALSO A PLAIN ROUND-ARCHED DOORWAY. {3}~ THE TOWER, STANDING ON A CHAMFERED PLINTH, IS OF THE LINCOLNSHIRE LATE-SAXON TYPE: THE WALLS ARE OF FLATTISH RUBBLE, WITH DRESSED- STONE SIDE-ALTERNATE QUOINS; IT HAS THE USUAL TWO STAGES, SEPARATED BY A STRING-COURSE OF SIMPLE SQUARE SECTION. THE TALLER, LOWER STAGE SHOWS THE BLOCKED REMAINS OF A WEST DOORWAY, WITH A ROUND- ARCHED HEAD OF A SINGLE SQUARE ORDER, ENCLOSING A SEMI-CIRCULAR TYMPANUM, WHICH RESTS ON A FLAT STONE LINTEL. THE JAMBS OF THIS DOORWAY ARE NO LONGER VISIBLE, IF INDEED THEY HAVE SURVIVED. THE ONLY OTHER OPENING IN THE LOWER STAGE OF THE TOWER IS A MUCH-RESTORED, NARROW KEYHOLE WINDOW, HIGH ABOVE THE DOORWAY; ITS BUILT-UP JAMBS SLOPE TOGETHER TOWARDS THE TOP, AND ITS HEAD IS CUT FROM A SINGLE SQUARE STONE. THE SHORTER BELFRY STAGE HAS A DOUBLE WINDOW IN EACH FACE, WITH ASHLAR JAMBS AND CYLINDRICAL MID-WALL SHAFTS. THE PLAIN, THIN, RECTANGULAR THROUGH-STONE SLAB AND THE IMPOSTS PROJECT A FEW INCHES FROM THE FACE OF THE WALL. THE SEMI-CIRCULAR HEADS OF THE INDIVIDUAL LIGHTS OF EACH DOUBLE WINDOW ARE CUT IN THE LOWER FACES OF SQUARE STONES. IN THE EASTERN WINDOW THE CAPITAL OF THE MID-WALL SHAFT IS OF RECTANGULAR CORBEL-LIKE SHAPE, TO SUPPORT THE THROUGH-STONE. IN THE NORTH AND EAST WINDOWS THE SILLS ARE BUILT UP FOR ABOUT 1', TO HIDE THE LOWER PART OF THE MID-WALL SHAFTS. IN THE SOUTH AND WEST WINDOWS THE JAMBS AND THE MID-WALL SHAFTS REST OF THE STRING-COURSE WHICH SEPARATES THE TWO STAGES OF THE TOWER. THE SOUTH DOORWAY OF THE NAVE IS A SIMPLE ROUND-HEADED OPENING OF A SINGLE SQUARE ORDER, WITH SQUARE JAMBS AND CHAMFERED IMPOSTS. THE SOUTH WALL IS 33' THICK AND THERE SEEMS EVERY LIKELIHOOD THAT BOTH IT AND THE DOORWAY ARE CONTEMPORARY WITH THE TOWER. INTERNALLY, THE TOWER-ARCH IS TALL AND WIDE; ITS ROUND HEAD, OF A SINGLE SQUARE ORDER, IS NOT OF THROUGH-STONES; ITS SQUARE JAMBS ARE BUILT OF WELL-DRESSED ASHLAR AND ITS QUIRKED, CHAMFERED IMPOSTS ARE RETURNED ABOUT 1' ALONG THE NAVE WALL. A CONSIDERABLE LENGTH OF THE NORTH WALL OF THE NAVE HAS BEEN LEFT INTACT AT THE WEST OF THE EARLY ENGLISH NORTH ARCADE, AND SINCE THIS IS OF THE SAME THICKNESS AS THE SOUTH WALL, THERE SEEMS LITTLE REASON TO DOUBT THAT IT IS CONTEMPORARY WITH THE TOWER. THE TOWER IS ABOUT 10' SQUARE INTERNALLY, WITH THE EAST WALL 2'10' THICK. THE NAVE IS 15' WIDE WITH SURVIVING NORTH AND SOUTH WALLS 2'9' THICK AND ABOUT 16' HIGH. {4}~, HTM 19M

<1> OS CARD INDEX, SK 88 NE:4,1964, FEATHERSTON K J A (Index). SLI2555.

<2> SMR FILE, SK 88 NE:K,1978, TMA (Index). SLI3082.

<3> Nikolaus Pevsner and John Harris, with Nicholas Antram, 1989, Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Second Edition), 2nd Rev Edn p375 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI1062.

<4> Taylor, H.M. and Taylor, J., 1965, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, VOLUMES 1-3 pp291-2, 1104 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI856.

<5> FISHER, E.A., 1963, Lincolnshire Architectural and Archaeological Society Reports and Papers, Vol 10, part 1, pp.19-20 (Article in Serial). SLI652.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 850 AD to 1065 AD)

Sources and further reading

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