Gayton, The Parish Church of St Nicholas.
Church of St Nicholas, Lynn Road, Gayton
Grade I Listed
List Entry Number 1077638
GAYTON LYNN ROAD TF 71 NW (south side) 6/26 Church of St. Nicholas 15.8.60 I Parish church, C14, restored 1850. Mainly flint with some carstone and a few erratics. Stone dressings lead roof. West tower, nave, north and south aisles, chancel, south porch. Tall 4-stage tower with short diagonal buttresses and stone plinth; tall west window with Y tracery; second stage with small quatrefoil sound holes, clock face to west, string course above. Third stage with Y tracery bell openings, steep gable line of former roof to east having blocked square opening within, string course above; 4th stage with 2-light bell openings of reticulated tracery; string course to parapet above with gargoyle to south and west, that to north lost. Embattled parapet with some flushwork panelling, angle pinnacles of seated evangelistic symbols holding shields. Pitch covered dome with octagonal stone block having windvane finial. Nave: east gable with blocked lancet; north and south clerestoreys alike of 4 openings, 2 cusped lights with trefoil under semi- circular head alternating with circular openings with quatrefoils. North aisle with slate roof, diagonal buttresses at angles and 3 stepped buttresses; 3 Y tracery openings, that to left wide, that to right cusped; west return with similar opening; north doorway with continuous double roll moulding. Oval window to east return with quatrefoil and eyelets. South aisle similar to north but with 2 buttresses, the central opening with cusped Y tracery, west return with cusped Y tracery opening having a trefoil with small dagger eyelet between the lights. South porch of flint with some dressed limestone, gabled pantile roof with parapet, sundial of 1604 to apex; semi-circular porch arch with continuous hollow chamfered and roll mouldings; double cusp-headed lights under a segmental head to returns; clasping purlin roof; south doorway as north. Chancel with tiled roof, diagonal buttresses; C19 3-light east window with panel tracery with blocked opening of earlier larger window; north and south chancel each with buttress and 2 2-light openings having panel tracery renewed; each with central priest's door, that to north blocked, under pointed segmental head, that to south with figure stops to hood mould. Interior: nave: tall 4 bay arcade north and south with octagonal piers and double chamfered arches, chancel arch similar but lower with reduced imposts. 2-tier roof with moulded purlins and principal rafters, foliage bosses, other rafters renewed, hammer beams against tower and chancel walls. C14 octagonal font withquatrefoils to faces; square headed rear arch to oval window at east of north aisle; south aisle with aumbry. Chancel: arch-braced 3-tier roof of 1850 with foliage and heraldic bosses; Perpendicular piscina and sedilia with cusped heads to arcade; north priest's door with flower stops, oak dove over apex of east window. South aisle with trefoil headed piscina and corbel plinth to right of east window. Tower: tall double chamfered arch with gabled roof line above; hollow moulding to rear arch of tower window and west window of south aisles; tower dome in brick with 8 stone ribs having neither corbels nor central boss; 10-step newel stair at north-east angle to parapet.
Listing NGR: TF7302219262
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1077638
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The Parish Church of St Nicholas, Gayton
The date of the foundation of the church is not known, but according to the Rev. Charles Parkin (1689 – 1765), Rector of Oxborough, a Norfolk Historian of note, Hugh was Rector of Gayton during the reign of King Henry III (1216 – 1272). It is probable that the present church post-dates that time as the style of architecture is mainly “Decorated” rather than “Early English” and relates to the early 14th Century. The outside walls are made with natural flints set in lime mortar.
The Tower is remarkable for being so high without buttresses and for its unusual Dome and four Evangelists rather than the more usual pinnacles.
The unusual domed top to the tower is a special feature of Gayton church tower which shows well from the roads approaching the village. On the four corners are the emblems of the evangelists, now much weathered. They are the winged man for St Matthew, a lion for St Mark, an ox for St Luke and an eagle for St John.
On the east face of the tower can be seen the line of a former roof of the nave, which was thatched.
Lower down, inside the nave, yet another roof line is to be found, one that matches a much lower tower to which the buttresses belong. Clearly the extra belfry was added to the tower when the church was enlarged with aisles and clerestory.
The lower belfry openings are simple Y tracery typical of around 1300 whilst the upper belfry has openings of the distinctive Decorated Period 1320 – 1350. Two bells survive from an original five, one dated 1623, the other 1663. The nave pews were installed in 1849 and those in the south aisle a little earlier. In 1842,Alexander Simpson donated the east and west windows and in 1852, the clock, which is in good working order to this day.
Nicholas Church at Gayton has stood at the centre of the village since the 13th century and is very much a part of village life. It is currently seeing a revival as, thanks to help from the Heritage Lottery Fund,the church building has been renovated in 2011 and is now well on the way to be a place for the community.
www.ggmbenefice.uk/our-churches/gayton/gayton-church-hist...
Gayton, The Parish Church of St Nicholas.
Church of St Nicholas, Lynn Road, Gayton
Grade I Listed
List Entry Number 1077638
GAYTON LYNN ROAD TF 71 NW (south side) 6/26 Church of St. Nicholas 15.8.60 I Parish church, C14, restored 1850. Mainly flint with some carstone and a few erratics. Stone dressings lead roof. West tower, nave, north and south aisles, chancel, south porch. Tall 4-stage tower with short diagonal buttresses and stone plinth; tall west window with Y tracery; second stage with small quatrefoil sound holes, clock face to west, string course above. Third stage with Y tracery bell openings, steep gable line of former roof to east having blocked square opening within, string course above; 4th stage with 2-light bell openings of reticulated tracery; string course to parapet above with gargoyle to south and west, that to north lost. Embattled parapet with some flushwork panelling, angle pinnacles of seated evangelistic symbols holding shields. Pitch covered dome with octagonal stone block having windvane finial. Nave: east gable with blocked lancet; north and south clerestoreys alike of 4 openings, 2 cusped lights with trefoil under semi- circular head alternating with circular openings with quatrefoils. North aisle with slate roof, diagonal buttresses at angles and 3 stepped buttresses; 3 Y tracery openings, that to left wide, that to right cusped; west return with similar opening; north doorway with continuous double roll moulding. Oval window to east return with quatrefoil and eyelets. South aisle similar to north but with 2 buttresses, the central opening with cusped Y tracery, west return with cusped Y tracery opening having a trefoil with small dagger eyelet between the lights. South porch of flint with some dressed limestone, gabled pantile roof with parapet, sundial of 1604 to apex; semi-circular porch arch with continuous hollow chamfered and roll mouldings; double cusp-headed lights under a segmental head to returns; clasping purlin roof; south doorway as north. Chancel with tiled roof, diagonal buttresses; C19 3-light east window with panel tracery with blocked opening of earlier larger window; north and south chancel each with buttress and 2 2-light openings having panel tracery renewed; each with central priest's door, that to north blocked, under pointed segmental head, that to south with figure stops to hood mould. Interior: nave: tall 4 bay arcade north and south with octagonal piers and double chamfered arches, chancel arch similar but lower with reduced imposts. 2-tier roof with moulded purlins and principal rafters, foliage bosses, other rafters renewed, hammer beams against tower and chancel walls. C14 octagonal font withquatrefoils to faces; square headed rear arch to oval window at east of north aisle; south aisle with aumbry. Chancel: arch-braced 3-tier roof of 1850 with foliage and heraldic bosses; Perpendicular piscina and sedilia with cusped heads to arcade; north priest's door with flower stops, oak dove over apex of east window. South aisle with trefoil headed piscina and corbel plinth to right of east window. Tower: tall double chamfered arch with gabled roof line above; hollow moulding to rear arch of tower window and west window of south aisles; tower dome in brick with 8 stone ribs having neither corbels nor central boss; 10-step newel stair at north-east angle to parapet.
Listing NGR: TF7302219262
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1077638
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The Parish Church of St Nicholas, Gayton
The date of the foundation of the church is not known, but according to the Rev. Charles Parkin (1689 – 1765), Rector of Oxborough, a Norfolk Historian of note, Hugh was Rector of Gayton during the reign of King Henry III (1216 – 1272). It is probable that the present church post-dates that time as the style of architecture is mainly “Decorated” rather than “Early English” and relates to the early 14th Century. The outside walls are made with natural flints set in lime mortar.
The Tower is remarkable for being so high without buttresses and for its unusual Dome and four Evangelists rather than the more usual pinnacles.
The unusual domed top to the tower is a special feature of Gayton church tower which shows well from the roads approaching the village. On the four corners are the emblems of the evangelists, now much weathered. They are the winged man for St Matthew, a lion for St Mark, an ox for St Luke and an eagle for St John.
On the east face of the tower can be seen the line of a former roof of the nave, which was thatched.
Lower down, inside the nave, yet another roof line is to be found, one that matches a much lower tower to which the buttresses belong. Clearly the extra belfry was added to the tower when the church was enlarged with aisles and clerestory.
The lower belfry openings are simple Y tracery typical of around 1300 whilst the upper belfry has openings of the distinctive Decorated Period 1320 – 1350. Two bells survive from an original five, one dated 1623, the other 1663. The nave pews were installed in 1849 and those in the south aisle a little earlier. In 1842,Alexander Simpson donated the east and west windows and in 1852, the clock, which is in good working order to this day.
Nicholas Church at Gayton has stood at the centre of the village since the 13th century and is very much a part of village life. It is currently seeing a revival as, thanks to help from the Heritage Lottery Fund,the church building has been renovated in 2011 and is now well on the way to be a place for the community.
www.ggmbenefice.uk/our-churches/gayton/gayton-church-hist...