St Margaret’s Church, Bygrave, Herts, UK - Medieval Churches on Waymarking.com

The church consists of a chancel, nave, and south porch. The church is cemented on the outside, the dressings being of stone and the roofs tiled.

The nave is the earliest part of the church, and belongs to the 12th century, the chancel to the latter part of the 14th century, and the west turret to the 15th century, when the windows were altered and the rood stair was built.

The chancel east window is transomed and has three cinquefoiled lights, traceried in the head. In the north chancel wall is a small 14th-century door with a low-side window of one cinquefoiled light, and a window of two cinquefoiled lights set under a square head. The south chancel has two windows, one a window of two lights similar to that on the north side, the other of three cinquefoiled lights under a four-centred arch. In the chancel on the south side is a 14th-century moulded and arched piscina, and on the north side is an arched niche for a tomb. The chancel arch is of two moulded orders, with engaged shafts under.

The nave has a window in each of its north, south and west walls consisting of two cinquefoiled lights under square heads. The doorway to the rood stair is set in a splay on the north side of the chancel arch; the stair and openings to the rood loft still remain. The north doorway has been blocked. The south doorway is of the 12th century, but is much restored - the arched head is slightly pointed and has a roll moulding and there are shafts in the jambs with scalloped heads. The south porch is of 18th-century work.

There is a small semi-octagonal turret against the west wall on the south side of the west window which gives access to the bell.

The rood screen is of the 15th century, the upper part having open tracery work, the lower closed panels being traceried. There is a carving of the royal arms on the cornice of the screen of late 17th-century work. The communion table and rails also belong to the 17th century.

There are some traceried panels of the 15th century incorporated with the modern pulpit, and fixed to the pulpit is a 17th-century wrought-iron hour-glass stand. There are some 15th-century bench ends with poppy heads in the church and some plain old seating. Some fragments of 15th-century glass still exist in the nave windows, and in the churchyard by the west wall of the church is an old stone coffin without a lid.

Building Materials: Stone

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