Gargoyles, St.Mary-at-the-Wall, Church Street, Colchester, Essex - Gargoyles and Chimeras on Waymarking.com

The original mediaeval church of St.Mary-at-the-Wall was ruined in the Siege of Colchester 1648 and rebuilt in 1713-14, but the late C15th west tower survived. This had a new embattled stage of brick added to it in 1729. In 1872 the nave and chancel were rebuilt to the designs of Sir Arthur Bloomfield and the church is now the Colchester Arts Centre. The tower is built of a mixture of limestone rubble and flint with some courses of brick used for repairs, these bricks small enough to be Roman quite possibly taken from the old town wall which is adjacent to the building.

The gargoyles are placed at the head of different down pipes around the old church all at the water outlets from the parapet. They are all of limestone which is at odds with the brick-built later church. It is possible some were salvaged from the mediaeval church, some are quite well weathered and are not a full multiple of the brick size, which supports this hypothesis.

Water spout is used: yes Condition: Lightly Weathered

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   10/16/2015 Master Mariner visited it