Throw in a hammerbeam nave roof, three good Darcy monuments - one very similar to the Rich monument at Felstead, a sheepfold communion rail (which is, to me to date, a unique feature), some good glass and even the mediocre features are lifted out of the mundane. This is definitely a top ten Essex church.
ST PETER AND ST PAUL. The parish church lies just outside the abbey precinct, SE of the priory church. It is in one way a most remarkable church - in that its large nave has brick piers and brick arches. The impression on entering is of a North German more than an English church. This nave with its aisles dates from the early C16. It has a hammerbeam roof, and the aisles have flat roofs with moulded (N) and richly foliated (S) beams. A new chancel was also contemplated, as the responds of a wide and tall chancel arch prove. It was not built, and much lower and narrower arches, perhaps originally meant to be temporary, connect the ambitious Tudor nave with the older church. The older church, at first hardly noticed, was however also quite ambitious. It dates from the C13 and had a chancel and long transepts with E chapels or rather an E aisle. These were shortened in the C16, because the Perp style did not like side excrescences. However, the chancel is still that of the C13 (one blocked S window), and the transepts still have thin E piers carrying triple-chamfered arches. The piers are circular, the N with four, the S with eight attached shafts. There is indeed, though almost unnoticeable, some evidence of a yet earlier age. The W wall contains the S respond of a Norman S arcade, plain with the simplest capital.
Now the exterior. Two C13 chancel windows, with their mullions and tracery lost, survive. The E window is Perp of an unusual tracery pattern. In the E wall of the S transept aisle are two early C14 windows. The S transept S window goes with the chancel E end. N and S aisle windows are latest Perp, of four lights with depressed heads and the simplest panel tracery. But the S aisle is red brick (as is also the S porch), whereas the N aisle is faced with flint and septaria and the window orders are of flint and red brick. This aisle looks as if it might well be of post-Reformation date. The W tower was in existence, when nave and aisles were built. It was probably attached in the C14 to the Norman nave. It has big angle buttresses with three set-offs, and battlements. A curious connexion, including a squinch, was made in the C16 between the S aisle and the stair-turret. - FONT. Octagonal with panels containing a head of St John, an angel holding a shield etc. - PLATE. Large Cup and Paten of 1574. - MONUMENTS. In the chancel two large standing wall monuments facing each other. They are almost identical in design and commemorate the first and second Lord Darcy and their wives. They date from c. 1580. Alabaster and marble tomb-chest with recumbent effigies, the husband behind and a little higher than the wife. Restrained background; no columns, no strapwork. - John Darcy d. 1638, signed by Fr. Grigs (S chapel), recess containing the tomb-chest with recumbent alabaster effigy. Against the back wall brass plate with inscription. - Lucy Countess of Rochford d. 1773. Standing wall monument with a straight sided sarcophagus, and on it two urns. No effigy. Signed by William Tyler.
My children's description of me?
ST OSYTH. Its quiet charm has attracted men from the days when Britain attracted Caesar, and from then till now the lover of the beautiful has found something at St Osyth.
The pilgrim comes to the broad green which creeps up to the walls of Priory Park, one of the rarest ruins of Norman England, set among spacious gardens and noble trees. The Saxon nunnery of St Osyth has vanished, but here are Roman bricks the Saxons handled when they built it. They are in the walls and in the foundations. A Roman pavement of red and buff mosaic has been found in the park. It is said that this place goes back to the days of the first Christian king of East Anglia, whose daughter was St Osyth, founder of the abbey here, and it is thought that Canute gave it to Earl Godwin, from whom it passed to the Bishop of London 50 years after the Battle of Hastings, when the priory was founded and these walls were built.
They are magnificent even in ruin. It is recorded that when Henry the Eighth and Thomas Cromwell seized this place the lead on the roof was worth £1000, and among the treasures was a silver casket in which was kept the skull of St Osyth.
By the green is an arched gateway of the 14th century enriched with deep mouldings, big enough for farm carts to pass through yet looking small by the two-storeyed gatehouse, adorned with flints and panels of white stone. In the spandrels of the gateway is St Michael fighting the Dragon, and on each side are elegant niches; in the roof of its arch are little gems of sculpture, among them St Osyth crowned, a hart with a napkin round its neck, and Gabriel bringing the good news to the Madonna.
Through all this we come into a scene of great beauty, the park in which were planted our first Lombardy poplars. It has a heronry of scores of nests and roses blooming where the old monks chanted their praise. Beyond the roses stands the great tower with three turrets, built of chequered stones in the middle of the 16th century. The view from the top is of supreme beauty, the sea and the richly wooded country round giving us a picture not to be forgotten.
By the tower is the wondrous spectacle of thousands of red bricks crumbling away. They were made by the Romans, handled by the Saxons, and built up by the Normans into the great arches which supported the dormitory of the monks and are now slowly crumbling before our eyes.
Behind them is a small chapel made from a vaulted passage, the ribs of its roof springing from marble columns six centuries old; and beyond this chapel a lovely clock tower watches over the site of the old cloisters. Built of chequer work, it is a little rival of the abbot’s tower, and is as old as the house beyond it, both built in the 16th century, though the house has cellars twice as old. The front of the house is dated 1527 and is like a picture book. The wall is patterned in red and black bricks and has a magnificent oriel window overhanging a moulded arch. Round this window 88 shields bear the devices of king and bishop, canon and saint, with the arms of France and many a curious rebus, including that of the Abbot Vintoner who built it, a vine and a tun.
A great national treasure is this group of buildings, and greatly is it cared for. It comes from the days of our Roman masters, through the days of our Saxon forefathers, into the age of our Norman conquerors, and here still stand these venerable walls, rich in history and in beauty, with all the glory of an English garden about them and the story of one of our saints woven into them.
The village has many ancient cottages; Priory Cottage with a projecting hall of the 15th century, one by the cross-roads built in the 16th century, and the moated St Clair Hall built in the 14th century. In the marshes stand Martello towers built to keep back Napoleon, and there is a mill set up long ago to be worked by the tide.
The church, with its massive tower, is a noble structure of Tudor days, seized by Henry the Eighth while the walls were still being raised. We can see the place where the building came to an untimely end, the piers for the new chancel arch standing unoccupied against the walls. Five lofty brick arches run from here down each side of the nave to the west wall, where Norman masonry was pierced by the tower arch in the 14th century. Both the wide aisles, with their brick arches into the transept, are 16th century; so are the brick and stone porch and the wonderful roofs. Lovely white arches nearly 700 years old divide the transepts from the chapels and the chancel. In the chancel is a surprise which the villagers have called The Fold, altar rails curiously shaped like a horseshoe. On an alabaster tomb lies the first Lord Darcy with his wife, he with the Garter round his knee, and by them lies their son John, his wife beside him in a fur-lined mantle. Another John is carved in alabaster wearing the robes and cap of a serjeant-at-law. There is a lovely medieval font with the sword of Paul and the keys of Peter and a portrait of St Osyth carved on it; and St Osyth is also in a lovely modern window. We may compare these portraits in glass and stone with those drawn by medieval artists on 13th century seals, of which some casts are shown in a case by the door.
Among so much that is fine and splendid to look at is one small tribute here that will appeal to many travellers, for it is in memory of a native of St Osyth, Benjamin Golding who founded Charing Cross Hospital. A student at St Thomas’s, he became physician for West London Infirmary, which he transformed 100 years ago into the famous hospital at the heart of London.
The story of the village saint takes us back to the day when Christianity began to change the hearts of the rulers of our Motherland thirteen centuries ago. Frithewald and Walburga were King and Queen of East Anglia and were the first rulers to adopt the new faith. Their daughter Osyth loved the religion of hope and joy and made others love it too. As soon as she was old enough she was betrothed to Sighere, son of Sebert, first Christian king of the neighbouring kingdom of Essex. Great festivities took place at the wedding, yet when the feast was at its height Sighere caught sight of a splendid stag passing the house and without a thought for his bride called to his men, rushed out to his horse, and galloped in pursuit. Hunting for him was more important than marriage, thought Osyth, and when Sighere returned from the chase he found that she, too, had left the feast and betaken herself with her maids to the nearest nunnery. An agreement was made by which Sighere gave Osyth the village of Chich, where she founded a nunnery and gave her name to the village.
Years passed and a wooden church was built above the creek; and then Inguar and Hubba, the Danes, came raiding. They sailed up the Colne and burned the nunnery, and, seizing Osyth, commanded her to bow before the images of their gods; and on her refusal cut off her head. The legend is that from the spot where she fell a fountain gushed forth, but for us her life of devotion in those rough days is miracle enough.
Flickr.
The pilgrim comes to the broad green which creeps up to the walls of Priory Park, one of the rarest ruins of Norman England, set among spacious gardens and noble trees. The Saxon nunnery of St Osyth has vanished, but here are Roman bricks the Saxons handled when they built it. They are in the walls and in the foundations. A Roman pavement of red and buff mosaic has been found in the park. It is said that this place goes back to the days of the first Christian king of East Anglia, whose daughter was St Osyth, founder of the abbey here, and it is thought that Canute gave it to Earl Godwin, from whom it passed to the Bishop of London 50 years after the Battle of Hastings, when the priory was founded and these walls were built.
They are magnificent even in ruin. It is recorded that when Henry the Eighth and Thomas Cromwell seized this place the lead on the roof was worth £1000, and among the treasures was a silver casket in which was kept the skull of St Osyth.
By the green is an arched gateway of the 14th century enriched with deep mouldings, big enough for farm carts to pass through yet looking small by the two-storeyed gatehouse, adorned with flints and panels of white stone. In the spandrels of the gateway is St Michael fighting the Dragon, and on each side are elegant niches; in the roof of its arch are little gems of sculpture, among them St Osyth crowned, a hart with a napkin round its neck, and Gabriel bringing the good news to the Madonna.
Through all this we come into a scene of great beauty, the park in which were planted our first Lombardy poplars. It has a heronry of scores of nests and roses blooming where the old monks chanted their praise. Beyond the roses stands the great tower with three turrets, built of chequered stones in the middle of the 16th century. The view from the top is of supreme beauty, the sea and the richly wooded country round giving us a picture not to be forgotten.
By the tower is the wondrous spectacle of thousands of red bricks crumbling away. They were made by the Romans, handled by the Saxons, and built up by the Normans into the great arches which supported the dormitory of the monks and are now slowly crumbling before our eyes.
Behind them is a small chapel made from a vaulted passage, the ribs of its roof springing from marble columns six centuries old; and beyond this chapel a lovely clock tower watches over the site of the old cloisters. Built of chequer work, it is a little rival of the abbot’s tower, and is as old as the house beyond it, both built in the 16th century, though the house has cellars twice as old. The front of the house is dated 1527 and is like a picture book. The wall is patterned in red and black bricks and has a magnificent oriel window overhanging a moulded arch. Round this window 88 shields bear the devices of king and bishop, canon and saint, with the arms of France and many a curious rebus, including that of the Abbot Vintoner who built it, a vine and a tun.
A great national treasure is this group of buildings, and greatly is it cared for. It comes from the days of our Roman masters, through the days of our Saxon forefathers, into the age of our Norman conquerors, and here still stand these venerable walls, rich in history and in beauty, with all the glory of an English garden about them and the story of one of our saints woven into them.
The village has many ancient cottages; Priory Cottage with a projecting hall of the 15th century, one by the cross-roads built in the 16th century, and the moated St Clair Hall built in the 14th century. In the marshes stand Martello towers built to keep back Napoleon, and there is a mill set up long ago to be worked by the tide.
The church, with its massive tower, is a noble structure of Tudor days, seized by Henry the Eighth while the walls were still being raised. We can see the place where the building came to an untimely end, the piers for the new chancel arch standing unoccupied against the walls. Five lofty brick arches run from here down each side of the nave to the west wall, where Norman masonry was pierced by the tower arch in the 14th century. Both the wide aisles, with their brick arches into the transept, are 16th century; so are the brick and stone porch and the wonderful roofs. Lovely white arches nearly 700 years old divide the transepts from the chapels and the chancel. In the chancel is a surprise which the villagers have called The Fold, altar rails curiously shaped like a horseshoe. On an alabaster tomb lies the first Lord Darcy with his wife, he with the Garter round his knee, and by them lies their son John, his wife beside him in a fur-lined mantle. Another John is carved in alabaster wearing the robes and cap of a serjeant-at-law. There is a lovely medieval font with the sword of Paul and the keys of Peter and a portrait of St Osyth carved on it; and St Osyth is also in a lovely modern window. We may compare these portraits in glass and stone with those drawn by medieval artists on 13th century seals, of which some casts are shown in a case by the door.
Among so much that is fine and splendid to look at is one small tribute here that will appeal to many travellers, for it is in memory of a native of St Osyth, Benjamin Golding who founded Charing Cross Hospital. A student at St Thomas’s, he became physician for West London Infirmary, which he transformed 100 years ago into the famous hospital at the heart of London.
The story of the village saint takes us back to the day when Christianity began to change the hearts of the rulers of our Motherland thirteen centuries ago. Frithewald and Walburga were King and Queen of East Anglia and were the first rulers to adopt the new faith. Their daughter Osyth loved the religion of hope and joy and made others love it too. As soon as she was old enough she was betrothed to Sighere, son of Sebert, first Christian king of the neighbouring kingdom of Essex. Great festivities took place at the wedding, yet when the feast was at its height Sighere caught sight of a splendid stag passing the house and without a thought for his bride called to his men, rushed out to his horse, and galloped in pursuit. Hunting for him was more important than marriage, thought Osyth, and when Sighere returned from the chase he found that she, too, had left the feast and betaken herself with her maids to the nearest nunnery. An agreement was made by which Sighere gave Osyth the village of Chich, where she founded a nunnery and gave her name to the village.
Years passed and a wooden church was built above the creek; and then Inguar and Hubba, the Danes, came raiding. They sailed up the Colne and burned the nunnery, and, seizing Osyth, commanded her to bow before the images of their gods; and on her refusal cut off her head. The legend is that from the spot where she fell a fountain gushed forth, but for us her life of devotion in those rough days is miracle enough.
Flickr.
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