St. Mary, Gilston.
A humble heritage.
The village lies scattered along a country road to the north of Harlow curled around the park of a big estate. The church lies at the end of a lane which peters out into a farm track, with only two cottages for company, but this timeless setting is threatened with imminent destruction by shortsighted planners. The government intends to drop 10,000 houses on the parish in the near future, preferring to destroy irreplaceable countryside rather than clean up brownfield sites. Newtown verges are no substitute for country hedgerows, nor cats and dogs for badgers and birds. Spreading Harlow over these quiet fields would be environmental vandalism; rural rides not roundabouts are what this parish needs.
A humble heritage.
The village lies scattered along a country road to the north of Harlow curled around the park of a big estate. The church lies at the end of a lane which peters out into a farm track, with only two cottages for company, but this timeless setting is threatened with imminent destruction by shortsighted planners. The government intends to drop 10,000 houses on the parish in the near future, preferring to destroy irreplaceable countryside rather than clean up brownfield sites. Newtown verges are no substitute for country hedgerows, nor cats and dogs for badgers and birds. Spreading Harlow over these quiet fields would be environmental vandalism; rural rides not roundabouts are what this parish needs.
The small church set behind hedges was rebuilt in the thirteenth century and the deeply recessed west door is of the Early English style. This stonework was retained but the tower above glows in the soft pinks and reds of Tudor brick, when a shallow stair turret was set to the south. Beside it the Victorians rebuilt the aisle, adding an ornate timber porch at a time when the estate was improving the village with a school and housing to match work on the Hall. Had Gilston Park stayed in family hands it is less likely that the area would be sacrificed to suburban spread. A blocked early thirteenth century doorway moulders away on the narrow north aisle and to its east an unrestored two light window with a quatrefoil over remains from the expansion of the nave. Both aisles are low and dark inside, as no clerestory was built over the late thirteenth century arcades. Under the tower arch sits the font, with a Purbeck marble bowl from late Norman times on a fourteenth century base. Most light comes from the west tower window, which has the oldest glass in the church. This shows the shield of a Lord Mayor of London, Sir William Estfield, who died in 1446 leaving money to the church. Around the shield is a plea for prayers for his soul, and the arms showing three maidens’ heads denote his links with the Mercers. Since the first formal grant of a seal bearing this symbol had only been given to this City Livery Company in 1425, this is an early example indeed. The doorway by the font leads to the smallest possible spiral stair which climbs to two seventeenth century bells in an old oak frame. At the other end of the church the east window is full of Clayton and Bell glass of the 1870s showing scenes from the Passion, part of the refurbishment that renewed all the roofs. The memorials in the chancel are all to the Gore family, with heraldic ledger slabs on the floor and two big wall monuments of the mid seventeenth century. These are in widely differing styles; the more ornate shows the four year old Bridget resurrected in her shroud, angels pulling apart the veils and preparing to crown her little head. Opposite is the monument of her father, Sir John Gore, a more classic affair with only Corinthian columns and two tiny figures of Faith and Hope to enliven the epitaph which proclaims him “the prisoner of hope”. This is signed by the London sculptor Joshua Marshall, and as he was known for tombs featuring shrouded effigies, it is possible that the other may be from his workshop as well.
At the entrance to the chancel stands the simplest of screens, with a row of trefoil arches resting on slim columns, their capitals, bases and shaft rings turned on a lathe. This is one of the earliest screens left to us, being a thirteenth century masonry design rendered in wood. The only decoration is a rosette carved onto each spandrel, and the mouldings of the arches. It is obvious that only the top half is old, the screen having been removed at some time, but we must be grateful that even this has come down to us. This is not a grand church, and although rare and beautiful the screen is fittingly humble; it’s just shameful that we can’t pass on even a little of the peace that envelopes us here, a heritage of equal importance, equal beauty, and increasing rarity.
The church is locked, but there is a notice in the porch, and the key is at the end cottage opposite. This is how it should be done. To find the church, turn north up the track off the east end of Eastwick Road opposite the Plume of Feathers, and just keep going straight.
The church is locked, but there is a notice in the porch, and the key is at the end cottage opposite. This is how it should be done. To find the church, turn north up the track off the east end of Eastwick Road opposite the Plume of Feathers, and just keep going straight.
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