Medieval Pews - St Botolph and St John The Baptist - Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire - Wooden Church Artefacts on Waymarking.com

Mid 15th century wooden pews, and wonderful carved poppyheads, in St Botolph and St John The Baptist, Croxton Kerrial. The nave has 20 benches with poppyhead carved bench ends. The bench ends have geometrical and tracery patterns, while the poppyheads are allegorical scenes and figures. 5 other bench ends of mid to late 15th centur have been attached to 19th century benches.

"The Medieval Pews -

The eagle predominated on the bench ends, which was the symbol of St. John the Evangelist, the Patron Saint of the Abbey. Also on the bench ends are the symbols of the families who had endowed the abbey in the days of its greatness. These gave a kind of medieval insurance policy. The more one gave, the more the likelihood of entry into heaven, and the more masses said for one’s soul.

Some oak boards which made up the back rests were dated by the Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory at the University of Nottingham and were dated as mid-15? century. The pew ends themselves have not yet been done, but are probably earlier. The dating also shows that the wood was probably from the Baltic, which is not surprising since the east of England is well placed to trade with the Baltic over the North Sea.

Row 1: Carved on the first row at the choir end of the nave are busts of monks with their medieval choir books.

Row 2: The pew end on the north side portrays a nobleman in late medieval dress with his walking stick and two dogs. This could possibly be a depiction of Nicholas de Crioll, a patron of the abbey who gave his name to the village. On the south side is a shield with a displayed eagle.

Row 3: Has four eagles carved on the north side and two eagles on the south side.

Row 4: On the north side is displayed a lion rampant surmounted by a military cap on the north side and monks with their choir books on the south side.

Row 5: In the main aisle the ends have dragons on both sides, but on the south side aisle end is a shield with two chevrons. Again, this shows affinity with the Crioll family whose coat of arms it is.

Row 6: The south side shows a Maltese cross. On the north side is depicted a pagan green man with the tongue coming out on both sides of his mouth. Just below this carving is depicted what looks remarkably like a set of teeth.

Row 7: The north side end has a cross of St. Andrew. On the south side there are eagles facing east and west – the symbol of St. John the Evangelist, the patron saint of Croxton Abbey.

Row 8: This interesting end has carved faces of women. The one showing faces side by side are thought to be of twin sisters who lived in Waltham, and were generous benefactors of the abbey. The two women’s faces on the south side end could also be depicting these sisters."

SOURCE - (visit link)

Approximate age of artefact (Year): 1450's Relevant website: [Web Link] Times available for viewing: Daytime hours Entrance fee (if applicable), local currency: 0

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