Acle, Norfolk - St. Edmund
The round stage of the tower is the oldest part of St. Edmunds, thought to be Saxon in origin and dating between 850 to 950. The octagonal stage was added in the 13th. century, probably when the roof was raised. The battlements are from 1472. Today the tower is reinforced with a metal frame to enable the six bells, five of which were cast in Norwich and date from 1623, to be safely rung.
Entry to the church is by a porch on the north side, built in 1495. The dressed flints are in contrast with most of the walls which appear to be made of rubble.
The main body of the church, the nave, is thought on the evidence of the measurements and thickness of the walls to be Norman in origin. This is not immediately obvious as no Norman doorways or arches remain. In 1927, when ivy was being stripped from the outside walls, one of the buttresses collapsed revealing a find of Norman worked stones. It is probable that all the Norman doors and archways were demolished when the floor level was raised, perhaps to prevent flooding in the 13th. century. It is reasonable to assume that at least the foundations of the nave are Norman.
The main nave windows are 14th. century, and one near the pulpit is Tudor. The walls were probably painted at one time, a very small fragment of a dragon or a serpent like creature still exists on the wall of the old rood staircase. There is writing scrawled on to the north wall. It was written during a time of pestilence and it was uncovered in the early 20th. century. For many years it had to be covered to stop it fading, but it has been restored and protected behind glass. It is written in Latin, and is incomplete, because a later window punched through part of it. It is a cry for help and a call for prayer, translated as,
'Oh lamentable death, how many dost thou cast into the pit!
Anon the infants fade away, and of the aged death makes an end.
Now these, now those, thou ravagest, O death on every side;
Those that wear horns or veils, fate spareth not.
Therefore, while in the world the brute beast plague rages hour by hour,
With prayer and with remembrance deplore death's deadliness'
It is beleived to have been written at the time of the Black Death, which swept through western Europe in 1348 and 1349, revisiting in several waves over the next twenty years. In Norfolk, the Death of 1349 carried away perhaps half the population.
A dedicatory inscription on the stone font informs that it was donated in 1410, but does not mention the name of the donor.
A 15th. century wooden screen separates the nave from the chancel. It was not made for Acle church, and may have been brought from St. Benet's Abbey or the Augustinian priory at Weybridge. The 14th. century chancel probably replaced an apse (semi-circular building), the windows are of 14th. century design apart from the east window which holds Victorian stained glass, probably installed during the diocesan surveyor Richard Phipson's 1860's led restoration.
St. Edmund's received Grade: I listed building status on 25th. September 1962. (English Heritage Legacy ID: 228584).
Acle, Norfolk - St. Edmund
The round stage of the tower is the oldest part of St. Edmunds, thought to be Saxon in origin and dating between 850 to 950. The octagonal stage was added in the 13th. century, probably when the roof was raised. The battlements are from 1472. Today the tower is reinforced with a metal frame to enable the six bells, five of which were cast in Norwich and date from 1623, to be safely rung.
Entry to the church is by a porch on the north side, built in 1495. The dressed flints are in contrast with most of the walls which appear to be made of rubble.
The main body of the church, the nave, is thought on the evidence of the measurements and thickness of the walls to be Norman in origin. This is not immediately obvious as no Norman doorways or arches remain. In 1927, when ivy was being stripped from the outside walls, one of the buttresses collapsed revealing a find of Norman worked stones. It is probable that all the Norman doors and archways were demolished when the floor level was raised, perhaps to prevent flooding in the 13th. century. It is reasonable to assume that at least the foundations of the nave are Norman.
The main nave windows are 14th. century, and one near the pulpit is Tudor. The walls were probably painted at one time, a very small fragment of a dragon or a serpent like creature still exists on the wall of the old rood staircase. There is writing scrawled on to the north wall. It was written during a time of pestilence and it was uncovered in the early 20th. century. For many years it had to be covered to stop it fading, but it has been restored and protected behind glass. It is written in Latin, and is incomplete, because a later window punched through part of it. It is a cry for help and a call for prayer, translated as,
'Oh lamentable death, how many dost thou cast into the pit!
Anon the infants fade away, and of the aged death makes an end.
Now these, now those, thou ravagest, O death on every side;
Those that wear horns or veils, fate spareth not.
Therefore, while in the world the brute beast plague rages hour by hour,
With prayer and with remembrance deplore death's deadliness'
It is beleived to have been written at the time of the Black Death, which swept through western Europe in 1348 and 1349, revisiting in several waves over the next twenty years. In Norfolk, the Death of 1349 carried away perhaps half the population.
A dedicatory inscription on the stone font informs that it was donated in 1410, but does not mention the name of the donor.
A 15th. century wooden screen separates the nave from the chancel. It was not made for Acle church, and may have been brought from St. Benet's Abbey or the Augustinian priory at Weybridge. The 14th. century chancel probably replaced an apse (semi-circular building), the windows are of 14th. century design apart from the east window which holds Victorian stained glass, probably installed during the diocesan surveyor Richard Phipson's 1860's led restoration.
St. Edmund's received Grade: I listed building status on 25th. September 1962. (English Heritage Legacy ID: 228584).