St Germain, Wiggenhall St Germans, Norfolk
In 2005, I would created: The location of this lovely church is pretty various from that of its in the vicinity of neighbours Wiggenhall St Mary and Wiggenhall St Peter, for right here the starkness of the fens is softened by a really village, the pub standing to the north of the church and a village square with a shop and old houses over and above that. The proximity of the church to the river is yet again disguised by the levee banks constructed up to shield the land now that the river stage is so substantially larger than that of the country via which it rolls. Even so, various of the homes have markers to clearly show how substantial the floods have come, greater than I am as not long ago as 1953.
In a lot of methods, St Germain is a standard East Anglian church with aisles, a clerestory and an before tower the tower would be rather inconspicuous if it wasn’t for the most sophisticated prime phase with battlements and enchanting spires like a fairy castle. These are echoed by the sanctus bell turret at the other conclude of the nave.
The aisles lengthen into the chancel, and that to the north has a gabled roof, culminating at the east end in a cross on the major. The see of St Germain from the east is pretty satisfying. This church is as feminine as St Mary is masculine, but she is a fairly shabby old girl, propped up by substantial 18th century buttresses on the south side, and the red brick Tudor south porch crumbling to wreck.
The Wiggenhalls are synonymous with some of the finest late medieval woodwork in England. Throughout the Ouse at St Mary, there is selection after selection of benches of the greatest excellent, but I had felt it relatively sombre and museum-like. St Germain is really distinctive listed here, the carvings are quirky and comprehensive of life, which implies that they are by different palms. In the medieval service provider ports of the Ouse delta, it is pretty very likely that services like carving were being bought in from outside the house, so what we have in this article are in all probability two neighbouring parishes competing to outdo just about every other.
The medieval benches kind the two central ranges in the nave. Most of those in the aisles are Victorian copies, but very good ones. The principal bench ends encounter into the central walkway. As at St Mary, they consist of a huge determine in a niche, two lesser figures or scenes on possibly side above, and the total ton surmounted by an tasteful poppyhead.
On the south facet, the higher subject is the Seven Deadly Sins. The sin is depicted on the still left hand facet, with an angel on the suitable hand side indicating the sin. Each sin scene is established in the mouth of a significant fish symbolizing the jaws of hell. The surviving scenes, from the west, are Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Anger and Pride. Sloth and Envy are destroyed, even though a person survives as a stump. Pride is weakened, but the others are in superb condition. The figures in the niches are Apostles.
On the north facet are incomplete pieces of many sets. For starters, the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The Sins and the Sacraments were well-known subjects in the 14th and 15th centuries, at a time when the Church was striving to enhance Catholic orthodoxy in the deal with of neighborhood superstitions and abuses. The imperative for this had been the climbing to prominence of a new center-course after the aged estates experienced been damaged up in the wake of the Black Demise. They were most anxious that their souls must be prayed for, specifically in the event of a unexpected demise. Their bequests that made their mark on the imaginations of their parishes transformed the churches of eastern England. In time, this need for handle would direct to an embracing of the new massive concept commencing to just take condition on the continent – protestantism. But that was even now in the long run.
Also on this facet are seated figures that are in all probability the Evangelists. There is also a tiny choice of carved animals, most of which are silent, community photographs of daily creatures, while there is a super pig-like dragon.
There are two fonts a fairly strong 19th century stone one particular on marble pillars, and its medieval predecessor relegated to the floor in the south aisle. The north chancel aisle is pleasingly absolutely free of clutter, permitting that white Fenland gentle to spill throughout it in practically a Dutch way. The rood stair turns inside the chancel arch, and yet again is pleasingly shabby. The Jacobean pulpit nevertheless has its hourglass stand, and a couple of evangelical banners (we are in the Diocese of Ely, after all) incorporate a touch of color.
I started this account by commenting on the gloom of the chancel, but I ought to say that there is a dim richness right here, fully Victorian with colored wrought-iron altar rails and heavy wood panelling. I am glad the total church is not like this, but it presents an interesting contrast 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 devotion. It is fitting that it must be this sort of a particular position.
Posted by Simon Knott on 2016-09-11 23:54:38
Tagged: , Wiggenhall , St , Germain , Germans , Norfolk , East Anglia , church , church buildings
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