St. Mary, Brent Pelham
Brent Pelham stands in the lucky north east of the county; lucky in its rural isolation, lucky for its unlocked churches. The tree-girt church sits besides a junction of roads marked by a tiny handkerchief sized patch of grass, with the old whipping post and stocks next to the gate, reminders of past barbarity that are becoming quite rare. When I was a child they were as common as wooden bedstead grave markers hereabouts, now most have rotted or been moved out of sight. The vast nineteenth century tiled roof is laid in a diamond grid pattern; with its sharply gabled porch and ornate window tracery this could be mistaken for a High Victorian church were it not that there are original Dec. side windows in the chancel and a sturdy fifteenth century tower. This last is capped by a good Hertfordshire spike, pretty much obligatory in this area.
Brent Pelham stands in the lucky north east of the county; lucky in its rural isolation, lucky for its unlocked churches. The tree-girt church sits besides a junction of roads marked by a tiny handkerchief sized patch of grass, with the old whipping post and stocks next to the gate, reminders of past barbarity that are becoming quite rare. When I was a child they were as common as wooden bedstead grave markers hereabouts, now most have rotted or been moved out of sight. The vast nineteenth century tiled roof is laid in a diamond grid pattern; with its sharply gabled porch and ornate window tracery this could be mistaken for a High Victorian church were it not that there are original Dec. side windows in the chancel and a sturdy fifteenth century tower. This last is capped by a good Hertfordshire spike, pretty much obligatory in this area.
Beyond the ornate spiky timber porch is an early fourteenth century door with blind reticulated tracery patterns on it leading into the barn like nave. Remains of the tracery of the rood screen have been made up into a tower screen, in front of which at the west end of the nave stands the organ, with big long handles sticking out for boys to pump the bellows. Two similarly attired Elizabethan women are engraved on brasses on each side of the chancel arch, but it is a half hidden slab in the dark of the nave that draws most people here; set into a low niche in the north nave wall is one of the most unusual Purbeck marble coffin lids in England. Dating from the late thirteenth century, this stone is carved with an ornate foliate cross, its long stem rising from the maw of a dragon at one end of the slab. Above the cross head is carved an angel carrying the figure of a soul up to god in a sheet, surrounded by the four symbolic beasts of Revelations. By the eighteenth century this memorial had spawned a complete legend to explain the carvings away; even the position within the niche was made part of a story that spread far and wide. Since the front figures of the winged man and winged lion are so much better carved than the eagle and winged bull at the back, it would seem that the slab may well belong in this niche, despite the poor fit and view it allows.
Piers Shonks was supposedly a local giant given to fighting evil in the form of the great dragons that once trod the land, he died in 1086 having killed one and scared away another. He’s buried in the wall half in and half out of the church to fool the devil, who otherwise would have claimed his soul. His brave dog is buried with him and thus is carved on top of the tomb with the dragons. A Georgian vicar wrote up his epitaph after opening the tomb and claiming to find enormous bones within.
The wide space of the nave holds no other surprises. It could perhaps do with some redecoration: indeed, it could swallow some modern murals without being harmed. I’ve always found the church open, but then, they do generally seem to care about their buildings in this part of the county and realise their worth to all.
All text and images copyright stiffleaf 2013.
The wide space of the nave holds no other surprises. It could perhaps do with some redecoration: indeed, it could swallow some modern murals without being harmed. I’ve always found the church open, but then, they do generally seem to care about their buildings in this part of the county and realise their worth to all.
All text and images copyright stiffleaf 2013.