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The parish church of St Edmund, Abbess Roding, consists of nave, chancel, west tower, north vestry, and south porch. The walls are of flint rubble, roughly coursed except where they have been restored, and the original dressings are of clunch. The plan indicates a 12th century origin and the dedication suggests that there was a church here before the Norman Conquest. The nave was probably rebuilt in the 14th century and the chancel in the 14th and 15th. The tower and porch were rebuilt in 1866-8 and the vestry was probably added before the end of the 19th century. The most interesting features of the church are the oak screen and the stained glass, both of the 15th century.

www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/sets/72157629306452140/ to see the full set.

The position of the north and south doorways suggests that the nave was originally built in the 12th century. The font is of the late 12th century and is similar in type to others in the area. The square bowl, which is bound with iron, has vine ornament carved on two sides and conventionalized flowers on another. On the fourth side appear the disk, crescent, whorl, and stars which are characteristic of these fonts. The stem is circular and has small angle shafts. The nave was probably rebuilt in the 14th century. There are two pointed windows with tracery of this date. The doorways are also 14th-century in style but the south doorway has been completely rebuilt. West of the doorways are single-light windows which are either modern or very thoroughly restored. A 14th-century piscina in the south wall has an ogee head on a square drain.

The chancel arch, much restored, is of two moulded orders. The windows on the north side of the chancel have tracery of the 14th century, but the later rebuilding of the rear arches has blocked the spandrels. There is much 15th-century work in the chancel. The two south windows have moulded jambs and fourcentred heads. The east window, entirely rebuilt in the 19th century, has tracery in the style of the 15th century and may replace a similar window of that date. The late 15th-century south doorway has a fourcentred head with carved spandrels and a square label externally. The stonework has been partly renewed.

The chancel roof has two tie-beams and a deep moulded and embattled wall-plate. Below the east tie-beam are moulded wall-posts and arched braces springing from modern corbel brackets. The nave roof, of similar date, has two tie-beams with traceried spandrels between the arched braces and the moulded wall-posts. At the west end are indications of the former bell turret, 'a little wooden turret with a spire'. This is shown in an engraving of 1797. In the same picture appears a large timber-framed south porch, also probably of the 15th century, having seven pointed lights along the sides. The turret and porch were both rebuilt in 1867 but there is still a 15th-century stoup outside the south door.

The fine oak screen is of the late 15th century. It has evidently been brought from elsewhere and cut to fit the present chancel arch. There are three full bays, one of which forms the entrance to the chancel, and an extra half bay at the south end. The upper panels have four-centred heads and are filled with elaborately cusped perpendicular tracery. The principal mullions are carved with buttresses and crocketed finials. The rail is enriched with a running vine ornament and the lower panels have tracery carving. The cresting is modern.

In one of the 15th-century chancel windows is some painted glass of the same period. It includes tabernacle work and two figures, one being a bishop in mass vestments and the other a woman, probably St. Margaret. Above the pulpit is a fine early-18th-century sounding board with an inlaid soffit and an enriched cornice. It is supported on a fluted Doric pilaster in the angle between the south and east walls of the nave.

The octagonal oak pulpit may be partly of the same date, altered later. The wrought-iron hour-glass stand near the pulpit is probably also of the 18th century. In 1866-7 the church was restored and refitted at the expense of Capel Cure of Blake Hall. The work included the rebuilding of the tower and the south porch. The present tower is of flint rubble with freestone dressings and is of three stages surmounted by a castellated parapet. Its style is mainly of the 14th century. The south porch is of timber. At the same time the east wall of the chancel was completely rebuilt, there were repairs to windows and roofs, the nave was repaved and new seats and new stained glass were installed. The total cost of the restoration was about £2,000.

The carved oak reredos, which has traceried panels and other enrichments, is the work of the late Miss Capel-Cure and was added in 1938. There are three bells. Two are probably of the 15th century, one being by John Walgrave. The third is by John Hodson, 1665.

On the north wall of the nave is a fine carved and painted wall tablet of alabaster and black marble. It is in memory of Sir Gamaliel Capell (1613) and has figures of himself and his wife kneeling at a prayer desk. Below, also kneeling, are six sons and three daughters. The monument was formerly in the chancel. On the opposite wall of the nave is a tablet in similar materials but of very unusual design. It commemorates Mildred (Capell) wife of Sir William Lucklyn (1633) and shows a lady looking out from a curtained recess, the curtains being held back by cherubs. Behind her, angels are descending to place a crown on her head. Above is a segmental pediment and an achievement of arms.

During the Middle Ages the advowson of the parish church of Abbess Roding was held by Barking Abbey.

Rode wouw by William van Dieten