Rood Screen Stairs - St Mary's Church, Church Road , Monewden, Suffolk, IP13 7DA - Stone Church Artefacts on Waymarking.com

The parish church of St.Mary is a Grade II* listed building. There are some Cllth or C12th fragments but the church is mainly c1300 with some C15th additions. Built of rubble and knapped flint and rendered with ashlar dressings it has a brick and plain tile roof and is simple in plan, a nave, a chancel, a west tower and south-western porch.

The stairs from the north side of the nave in front of the chancel arch led to the rood loft which, in Medieval times, would have carried the Great Rood or 'Christ Crucified', a large carved figure of Christ on the cross, it would normally have been supported by statues of saints, The Virgin Mary and St.John were favourites. The word rood is derived from the Saxon word rood or rode, meaning "cross" or "crucifix". The rood screen (also known as the choir screen, chancel screen, or jube) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture and is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, (between the laity and the clergy) of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron. None of the screen remains here but the stair entrance, off a large recess in the wall, the stairs and the opening which led onto the rood are all present. The upper opening is blocked off from the stairs and the platform formed is being used to hold a loudspeaker in the church's sound system.

For more information see Wikipedia, 'Rood screen'.

The co-ordinates are for the south porch.

Approximate Age of Artefact: Not listed Relevant Website: Not listed

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