St Germain, Wiggenhall St Germans, Norfolk
In 2005, I’d penned: The setting of this stunning church is fairly distinct from that of its close to neighbours Wiggenhall St Mary and Wiggenhall St Peter, for listed here the starkness of the fens is softened by a rather village, the pub standing to the north of the church and a village square with a store and aged properties past that. The proximity of the church to the river is yet again disguised by the levee banking institutions constructed up to defend the land now that the river amount is so considerably increased than that of the place by which it rolls. Even so, numerous of the residences have markers to clearly show how significant the floods have arrive, larger than I am as a short while ago as 1953.
In many methods, St Germain is a normal East Anglian church with aisles, a clerestory and an previously tower the tower would be very inconspicuous if it was not for the most tasteful prime phase with battlements and enchanting spires like a fairy castle. These are echoed by the sanctus bell turret at the other stop of the nave.
The aisles prolong into the chancel, and that to the north has a gabled roof, culminating at the east end in a cross on the top rated. The view of St Germain from the east is incredibly satisfying. This church is as feminine as St Mary is masculine, but she is a relatively shabby outdated woman, propped up by massive 18th century buttresses on the south facet, and the purple brick Tudor south porch crumbling to wreck.
The Wiggenhalls are synonymous with some of the best late medieval woodwork in England. Throughout the Ouse at St Mary, there is vary after range of benches of the best excellent, but I had felt it relatively sombre and museum-like. St Germain is fairly diverse here, the carvings are quirky and whole of daily life, which implies that they are by distinct hands. In the medieval merchant ports of the Ouse delta, it is fairly probably that companies like carving were acquired in from outside the house, so what we have here are possibly two neighbouring parishes competing to outdo every other.
The medieval benches kind the two central ranges in the nave. Most of individuals in the aisles are Victorian copies, but excellent types. The key bench finishes facial area into the central walkway. As at St Mary, they consist of a big determine in a area of interest, two scaled-down figures or scenes on either side above, and the total good deal surmounted by an elegant poppyhead.
On the south side, the upper issue is the 7 Fatal Sins. The sin is depicted on the still left hand aspect, with an angel on the suitable hand aspect indicating the sin. Just about every sin scene is set in the mouth of a huge fish representing the jaws of hell. The surviving scenes, from the west, are Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Anger and Pleasure. Sloth and Envy are destroyed, even though a single survives as a stump. Pleasure is ruined, but the others are in great situation. The figures in the niches are Apostles.
On the north aspect are incomplete areas of quite a few sets. First of all, the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The Sins and the Sacraments were well-liked subjects in the 14th and 15th generations, at a time when the Church was striving to reinforce Catholic orthodoxy in the encounter of neighborhood superstitions and abuses. The crucial for this had been the increasing to prominence of a new middle-class soon after the outdated estates experienced been broken up in the wake of the Black Demise. They were most anxious that their souls need to be prayed for, especially in the event of a sudden demise. Their bequests that manufactured their mark on the imaginations of their parishes transformed the church buildings of japanese England. In time, this want for control would guide to an embracing of the new huge strategy beginning to get condition on the continent – protestantism. But that was continue to in the future.
Also on this side are seated figures that are almost certainly the Evangelists. There is also a little choice of carved animals, most of which are quiet, regional illustrations or photos of every day creatures, although there is a tremendous pig-like dragon.
There are two fonts a relatively sturdy 19th century stone one on marble pillars, and its medieval predecessor relegated to the floor in the south aisle. The north chancel aisle is pleasingly free of clutter, letting that white Fenland mild to spill across it in almost a Dutch way. The rood stair turns within the chancel arch, and yet again is pleasingly shabby. The Jacobean pulpit still has its hourglass stand, and a pair of evangelical banners (we are in the Diocese of Ely, just after all) insert a contact of color.
I began this account by commenting on the gloom of the chancel, but I really should say that there is a dark richness below, entirely Victorian with colored wrought-iron altar rails and weighty wood panelling. I’m glad the whole church isn’t really like this, but it offers an interesting distinction with the medieval glories of the nave. St Germain was Bishop of Paris, and this is the only church in East Anglia that has him as its dedication. It is fitting that it should really be this kind of a particular place.
Posted by Simon Knott on 2016-09-11 23:54:47
Tagged: , Wiggenhall , St , Germain , Germans , Norfolk , East Anglia , church , churches
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