St
Mary the Virgin is truly stunning not least because you have no idea
what to expect until you get out of your car! It is secluded from the
village and reached via a narrow lane; surrounded by trees it is
practically invisible until the last minute. The church dates from the
13th century with major , to my, untrained eye, sympathetic, renovations
in the 18th.
ST MARY THE VIRGIN AND ALL SAINTS. The interest of this church is connected with R. M. T. Chiswell who added the E chapel in 1793 and the Font in 1786. The church itself has C13 arcades of four bays with circular piers with moulded capitals and moulded arches. Only on the S side the two first capitals are enriched by upright leaves. The S aisle windows are Dec; C14 also the S porch. The W side has no tower but a front design which looks the idea of Gothic which the period about 1800 had. So it no doubt also belongs to Mr Chiswell’s time. To the same time the pinnacles must be attributed. For his E chapel Mr Chiswell got John Carter, the celebrated antiquary, to provide the design. It is an octagonal structure on the pattern of such a chapter house as York, connected with the church by a broad passage. The material is white brick, and all the detail of tracery outside (E window) and inside is of papery thinness. The chapel has a ribbed plaster vault, the passage timber arches with thin pendants. Inside the chapel is the elaborate MONUMENT of R. M. T. Chiswell d. 1797, a tomb-chest with foiled decoration in the style of the C15 under a sumptuous arch in the style of c. 1300. Two other minor MONUMENTS in the current idiom of Late Georgian epitaphs are by King of Bath. - Large monument to William Burhill, d. 1703. It is signed Thorne (R. Gunnis). - FONT. 1789 3 octagonal of Coade stone in an elaborate and crisp Neo-Perp, with foiled panels; against the stem minute figures. The design was provided by R. Holland. Of Coade stone also the two medallions with quatrefoils outside the E chapel. - STAINED GLASS. In one S window heraldic glass evidently also late C18. The church stands all on its own in the beautifully landscaped grounds by the made lake. The Hall (by Holland, 1796) was demolished 1936.
ST MARY THE VIRGIN AND ALL SAINTS. The interest of this church is connected with R. M. T. Chiswell who added the E chapel in 1793 and the Font in 1786. The church itself has C13 arcades of four bays with circular piers with moulded capitals and moulded arches. Only on the S side the two first capitals are enriched by upright leaves. The S aisle windows are Dec; C14 also the S porch. The W side has no tower but a front design which looks the idea of Gothic which the period about 1800 had. So it no doubt also belongs to Mr Chiswell’s time. To the same time the pinnacles must be attributed. For his E chapel Mr Chiswell got John Carter, the celebrated antiquary, to provide the design. It is an octagonal structure on the pattern of such a chapter house as York, connected with the church by a broad passage. The material is white brick, and all the detail of tracery outside (E window) and inside is of papery thinness. The chapel has a ribbed plaster vault, the passage timber arches with thin pendants. Inside the chapel is the elaborate MONUMENT of R. M. T. Chiswell d. 1797, a tomb-chest with foiled decoration in the style of the C15 under a sumptuous arch in the style of c. 1300. Two other minor MONUMENTS in the current idiom of Late Georgian epitaphs are by King of Bath. - Large monument to William Burhill, d. 1703. It is signed Thorne (R. Gunnis). - FONT. 1789 3 octagonal of Coade stone in an elaborate and crisp Neo-Perp, with foiled panels; against the stem minute figures. The design was provided by R. Holland. Of Coade stone also the two medallions with quatrefoils outside the E chapel. - STAINED GLASS. In one S window heraldic glass evidently also late C18. The church stands all on its own in the beautifully landscaped grounds by the made lake. The Hall (by Holland, 1796) was demolished 1936.
Chiswell Arms
Muilman Arms
Trench Arms
Exterior arms
Exterior arms
Exterior arms
Holland Memorial
Sadly
the interior is a disappointment and doesn't live up to the, frankly,
stunning exterior and wonderful setting - despite this I'm placing it as
number two behind Saffron Walden and Thaxted as joint number one in
North Essex.
And it has loads of snowdrops - which has to be good.
Arthur Mee:
DEBDEN.
It is rich in old houses and farms, some Tudor and some 17th century.
Scot's Farm at Hamperden End has in one of its rooms a lovely frieze
with lions' faces. Mole Hall, its moat still wet, has three original
chimneys, a fine barn, and two timber-framed outhouses with oak
staircases. Amberden Hall, some way off, also has a moat; and New
Amberden Hall, for all its name, is 17th century. The great house is
Debden Hall, which stands by a lake in a splendid park of 200 acres; it
was built in the 18th century, and is said to be the successor of one
that stood here in the Conqueror's day.
The
church of this beautiful village is in a perfect setting, reached
through a field rich in Spanish chestnuts. It has seen many changes, the
18th century having given it a new chancel and bell-turret; but it has
kept a 14th century doorway by which we come to a nave with 13th century
arcades. One of the aisles is 15th century; the other, with its porch,
is a hundred years older. There is a Tudor chest bound with iron, a
window with the Chiswell arms, and an elaborate modern altar tomb to
Trench Chiswell, who rebuilt the chancel after it had been destroyed by
the falling of the old tower. A tablet tells of Harold Fisher, a
Haileybury boy who helped to defend Ladysmith, won the DSO, and lived on
to die for us in the Great War.
Flickr set.
No comments:
Post a Comment