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, 65 steps, 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 ringing room is a timber beam moved there when the old frame was removed and refurbished. On it is the frame maker's name and the date of making, and, as is usual in these matters, the churchwarden's names. The inscription reads:- 'Made by Thomas Spurrell Millright at Aylsham. 1747' and 'Joseph Harrison, James Jones, ChurchWardings' [note the spelling]. This frame must have been made when the two light bells by Thomas Lester were installed, augmenting the ring from six to eight. Since then there have been replacement bells for no.s 3, 5, and 7.
The bells are rung for practice on Thursday evening from 1930 until 2100 and for 30min before the divine service on Sunday morning. Also for special events throughout the year and by visiting ringers.
The following is a table extracted from Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers showing the bell weights in kg, the sounding notes of the bells, and the bell founder. Only the 5th's weight is known with any accuracy, the others are known to the nearest 'quarter of an hundredweight'.
Bell Weight Note Dated Founder
1 305.0 Eb 1746 Thomas Lester
2 317.5 D 1746 Thomas Lester
3 343.0 C 1891 John Warner & Sons
4 381.0 Bb 1639 (unidentified)
5 409.48 Ab 1925 Alfred Bowell
6 572.0 G 1669 John Darbie
7 762.0 F 1792 Thomas Osborn
8 991.0 Eb 1678 Thomas Norris
Thomas Lester was a founder in the long line of the family-owned Whitechapel Bell Foundry of London. He was the founder between 1735 and 1753 at the foundry started in 1420 by Richard Chamberlain in Spitalfields and has been at the Whitechapel site for over 250yrs. Regretfully the firm is due to close in May 2017.
John Warner & Sons was the last name of the Warner firm founded in Cripplegate, London in 1850 by John II Warner. John II was a successor of John I Warner who cast bells at the Whitechapel foundry.
Alfred Bowell was a founder in Ipswich from 1893 until 1939.
John Darbie was another Ipswich founder active from 1651 until 1691.
Thomas Osborn cast bells in St Neots, Cambridgeshire from 1773 to 1778 then moved to Downham Market, Norfolk in 1779, he finished casting bells in 1806.
Thomas Norris was the second of that surname to cast bells in Stamford, Lincolnshire, where the family-run business started in 1603 and lasted through three generations before being sold to Alexander Rigby who closed it in 1707. This tenor bell was one of the last bells to be cast by Thomas who stopped casting in 1678.
Words from British Listed Buildings and Pevsner's Norfolk 1 Buildings with amendments from own on site observations.