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St Mary,
Gayton Thorpe
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Gayton
Thorpe is one of several pretty little villages
between Kings Lynn and Swaffham; self-contained
places, off the beaten track and minding their
own business. The setting of St Mary is idyllic,
although it helps that this is one of the
prettiest church exteriors in this part of
Norfolk, of course. The Saxon tower with its bold
Norman upper stage is often described as being
elliptical, although it would be truer to say
that it is D-shaped, the eastern face flattened
and the nave built against it. The effect is
delightfully enhanced by the Norman windows in
the bell stage with their zigzag arches. The chancel
is curiously off-centre in the east wall of the
nave, but standing looking back you can see that
it lines up with the tower. At some point the
nave has been extended northwards. The north wall
of the chancel has no windows, suggesting that it
was rebuilt at sometime, possibly to accomodate a
now-lost memorial. The south side of the church
is a neat textbook display of windows of
different periods, including a very elegant Tudor
window in the chancel.
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Stepping
inside is a bit of a disappointment, because the interior
cannot match the beauty of the exterior. However, Gayton
Thorpe church does have one of the great medieval
treasures of Norfolk, one of the forty-odd Seven
Sacrament font series. This is rather cruder than most,
with no cusping or tracery, but simple carvings set in
plain frames. However, some of the representations are
particularly interesting, and the eighth 'odd' panel is a
representation of the Blessed Virgin and child. Apart
from this one, and the Last Rites panel, the font is in
pretty good condition. There has been little iconoclasm
here.
The
Blessed Virgin is the easterly panel, and then
anti-clockwise from there are Baptism (NE), the Priest
filling the font with water while the mother holds the
baby; Ordination (N), the ordinand, unusually, standing
rather than kneeling, and a dove descending on his head;
Confession (NW), the confessee kneeling at a shriving
bench before the Priest, while the devil sneaks off
behind her; Mass (W), perhaps the most interesting
representation here, the Priest dispensing Communion to
kneeling communicants while a houseling cloth catches the
crumbs; Matrimony (SW) a conventional arrangement;
Confirmation (S), another conventional arrangement, and
Last Rites (SE), a rather ambitious 3D effect with
figures standing on both sides of the bed.
Apart from
the font, this is just a typical small, rural parish
church, and none the worse for being so. Two slight
curiosities are the pair of unmatched corbel heads
supporting the chancel arch - you can see where the arch
has been cut away above them to accomodate the rood beam
- and a rather stark 18th century reredos which looks as
if it has been borrowed from a stage set. The church is
obviously loved; it appears well-kept and well-used, and
is a pleasure to visit.
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