St.Peter and St.Paul's Church, Upper Market, Fakenham, Norfolk, NR21 9BX
Posted by: 
greysman
N 52° 49.832 E 000° 50.840
31U E 354977 N 5855590
North Norfolk seems to have more than its fair share of large churches, The parish church in Fakenham is no exception.
Waymark Code: WMVDH5
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/05/2017
Views: 0
This C14th church is built of flint with freestone dressings and slate roofs and has been granted Grade I listing. It consists of a nave with north and south aisles, a chancel with north and south chapels, a tall west tower and a two-storey C15th south porch with an early C14th inner doorway, the upper floor room of which was sealed in 1864. The north doorway is all that remains of an Early English church which was on this site, it may have been reset to its present position. The early-C14th chancel has Decorated style north and south windows, which were all much renewed after 1951, and a large Decorated east window of five lights with curvilinear tracery. The later C14th nave and north and south aisles are of six-bay arcades with octagonal piers and double-hollow-chamfered arches, both tower and chancel arches are tall as befits the lofty roof. The hammerbeam nave roof was erected during the 1864 restoration and has sizeable angels bearing shields.
The large, 115ft, 35m, tall, 4-stage Perpendicular west tower is circa 1400-50, restored 1899 and 1963, and has flushwork at the base and a cusped panel frieze of shields above, the west doorway has flanking niches with shields and tracery in the spandrels and a frieze over the doorway of crowned 'P's. Above this is a large six-light Perpendicular west window with an embattled transom. The tower has a panelled square buttresses, an embattled parapet and four corner pinnacles, of 1823, four three-light Perpendicular transomed and traceried belfry openings and three square ringing chamber windows with a grid of panel units. It contains a heavy ring of eight bells of mixed casting dates and founders hung for ringing in the English style. The ringing chamber is reached by way of a spiral stair leading off the space at the bottom of the tower going up the north-west corner of the tower. Besides being the ringing chamber it is the clock room, the clock, a Potts of Leeds, is on a timber balcony on the west wall and drives simple clock faces on the west and south of the tower.
In the chancel are C14th Sedilia and Piscina with crocketed ogee arch. The C15th octagonal font has carved panels on both bowl and stem. Between the panels are pilasters with multi-chamfered heads and bases. The panels round the bowl have shields with the Symbol of the Trinity, the Instruments of the Passion, and arms, and the signs of the four Evangelists, one panel to the north-west is empty. The panels in the stem are all arched with a crown over a capital 'P', as in the frieze over the west doorway. The whole is mounted on an octagonal plinth with top-chamfered step, and is placed at the west end of the nave in front of the tower arch.
Other internal furnishings of note are a C14th Decorated screen unfaithfully restored in the 1864, C15th and C16th brasses in the chancel, and a pedestal poor-box dated 1665.
Words from British Listed Buildings and Pevsner's Norfolk 1 Buildings with amendments from own on site observations.
Coordinates are for the south porch entrance.