St. John the Baptist, Cottered.
Streetmap for a saint.
Large trees cluster around the west tower of the church in the centre of this small Y-shaped village, which boasts in the Lordship what may be the oldest inhabited house in the county. The church dates from the fourteenth century, but from the west it is the present day that is set here in stone, with the recently cut tower doorway bearing modern portrait heads with beards and glasses, one of whom has been immortalised sticking his tongue out – surely not the vicar? The lead topped steeple is half way between a spike and a full-sized spire, and on the north side of the chancel are a well secured vestry and a chapel with ornate tracery. From the south the nave looks more like the great hall of a Tudor palace, with enough glass for a greenhouse. Tall and wide transomed windows with four centred arches, they must have been a sight when full of the stained glass of which only the canopies remain. Through the heavy original door in the porch, the nave is quite wide and high, with big fourteenth century arches to the tower and chancel and a tie beam roof with bosses down the middle. Somewhat unusually set in an open area formed at the east end of the nave there is an elegant Queen Anne font full of fossils, a highly polished light grey Devonshire marble baluster supporting a gadrooned bowl that looks very urban in this rural church. With the enormous windows soaring up on each side the nave is full of light, making it easy to see the detail on the large wall painting of St. Christopher on the north wall opposite the entrance.
Streetmap for a saint.
Large trees cluster around the west tower of the church in the centre of this small Y-shaped village, which boasts in the Lordship what may be the oldest inhabited house in the county. The church dates from the fourteenth century, but from the west it is the present day that is set here in stone, with the recently cut tower doorway bearing modern portrait heads with beards and glasses, one of whom has been immortalised sticking his tongue out – surely not the vicar? The lead topped steeple is half way between a spike and a full-sized spire, and on the north side of the chancel are a well secured vestry and a chapel with ornate tracery. From the south the nave looks more like the great hall of a Tudor palace, with enough glass for a greenhouse. Tall and wide transomed windows with four centred arches, they must have been a sight when full of the stained glass of which only the canopies remain. Through the heavy original door in the porch, the nave is quite wide and high, with big fourteenth century arches to the tower and chancel and a tie beam roof with bosses down the middle. Somewhat unusually set in an open area formed at the east end of the nave there is an elegant Queen Anne font full of fossils, a highly polished light grey Devonshire marble baluster supporting a gadrooned bowl that looks very urban in this rural church. With the enormous windows soaring up on each side the nave is full of light, making it easy to see the detail on the large wall painting of St. Christopher on the north wall opposite the entrance.
 Modern corbel on the tower doorway.
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This was a popular subject depicted in most churches by the end of the middle ages, as the mere sight of this saint carrying the Christ-child across a river was enough to ensure safety from sudden unshriven death for the day. According to legend, Christopher was a Canaanite giant originally known as Reprobus, whose country of origin led him to mistakenly be portrayed as a dog-headed Cynocephalus on occasion. He rejects the king and the devil as masters having found them weak, finally serving a hermit by aiding pilgrims across a river. He struggles to carry the young Christ due to the weight of the world on his shoulders; awed by this strength, he converts, and is baptised “Christ bearer”, eventually suffering martyrdom by being shot full of arrows. Close to two hundred paintings remain of St Christopher carrying the Christ-child across a fish-filled river, with the staff in his hands often miraculously sprouting flowers and fruit. The mural at Cottered has lost its fish and inevitable mermaid, but retains the hermit holding up his lantern outside his chapel, depicted in detail down to the bell in its cote, as well as much less usual detail on the banks of the stream. Roads are shown leading from one village to another through farms in valleys with woods and fields, hamlets of half timbered houses, a windmill, churches complete down to the cockerel wind vane on top of the lead covered spires on their towers, and a well dressed young man drawing a sword stands before the barbican of a small castle. The whole background is like a mediaeval map.
 Hermit with lantern, a castle, and a young man feature on the background to the St.Christopher mural.
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 Early C18th arms of Queen Anne.
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 Churches and windmills lie along the road seen over the saint's shoulder on the mural.
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On the opposite wall are the royal arms of Queen Anne in an arched golden frame, decoratively portrayed on a sky-blue field. The door in the chancel that opens to the vestry was made with security in mind, as attested by the iron barred windows outside. The original door furniture remains, with hinges, handle and two locks, one of which retains its hinged lock plate, with decoration cut, hammered and filed in the fifteenth century. The north chapel now has a modern glass and timber screen across the arch from the chancel and is usually locked. Above on the wall is a tablet to the Reverend Anthony Trollope, the grandfather of the novelist who was buried here. The floor by the altar is covered with Victorian tiles of a good colour, always aesthetically preferable to carpet in a church.
Apart from the north chapel, the church is generally open. The vicar’s number is 01763 281218.
Apart from the north chapel, the church is generally open. The vicar’s number is 01763 281218.
 C19th tiles in the chancel.
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