Wansford

Please sign my Guestbook and leave feedback

Recent Additions

Finchingfield (Essex)

East Haddon (Northants)

Anstey (Hertfordshire)

Gnosall (Staffordshire)

Earl Stonham (Suffolk)

Norton (Suffolk)

Ixworth Thorpe (Suffolk)

Tutbury (Staffordshire)

Nantwich (Cheshire)

Penmon Priory (Anglesey)

Llaneilian (Anglesey)

Llanbadrig (Anglesey)

Lower Peover (Cheshire)

Leverton (Lincolnshire)




	Dedication : St Mary the Virgin Simon Jenkins: Excluded Principal Features : Norman Font; Anglo-Saxon Fragments

Wansford is the 100th church I have added to my site. I wanted my “century” church to be one of the small, ancient and unlauded churches that I love best. It’s also only am few miles from where I live.

It started life in Anglo-Saxon times. We know this from the little Anglo-Saxon window high up in the west wall of the nave. The nave itself is believed to be early Norman. The south door is certainly later than this, bearing as it does all the signs of being of the Transitional period. It is believed to date from 1200. The tower too is dated to the thirteenth century. It is of hefty dimensions. Its broach spire - a local speciality - is early fourteenth century. There is a north aisle with an arcade dating from early fifteenth century..

The chancel dates only from 1902 after the original fell down. It does not look that recent so I surmise that much of the original character of it was deliberately retained.

So far, so ordinary. It is the Norman font, however, that is the glory of this church. It is variously dated between 1100-1120. A rather old information board in the church says that it was found at Sibberton Lodge in nearby Thornhaugh a mile or so away. The village of Sibberton was abandoned because of the ravages of Plague and the last mention of its church was in 1389. This is some forty years after the so-called Great Plague but the 1380s were ravaged by further catastrophic outbreaks that are “forgotten”

only because of the enormity of the first pandemic.

Wansford Church itself was originally a "Chapel of Ease" to Thornhaugh Church. Parent churches tended to keep baptism (and, of course, the incomes that were generated) to themselves so it is unlikely that Wansford originally had a font at all. We should perhaps be grateful that it when it acquired parish church status there was a vacancy that the old Sibberton font could fill!

The font has arcading around its circumference which provides niches for figure carvings, a common Norman design. Unlike many other such Norman (such as Coleshill in Warwickshire) this one is not populated by Christ and his Apostles. Three of the panels have decorative motifs. Then have figures some of which are apparently unidentifiable laymen with long coats. Two of these are fighting each other with clubs or maces and bearing under-sized heart-shaped shields. Whoever they are meant to be they certainly are not Norman soldiers who would have been bearing kite-shaped shields. It is a mystery what such a martial scene is doing on a font. It is, however, not unique in that respect. as you can see on the font at Eardisley in Herefordshire that is one of England's very finest.

On either side of these two soldiers are priests holding up their hands in benediction. Elsewhere is supposedly the scene of Christ’s baptism though I confess I could not spot it myself! Overall, it is not in the first rank of Norman fonts by any means but it is an ambitious design executed in vibrant style.

If you need a break and a bit of tranquillity as you are racing along the A1 north of Peterborough, you can be at Wansford Church within, literally, a minute or two. The village is delightful too, all of glowing limestone and boasting an ancient bridge over the River Nene as well as pubs and restaurants. If you are really lucky you can visit it from your river cruiser! Or from the Nene Valley Steam Railway which is very close by.






	Left: The chancel dates from 1902 although I’m not sure you would know that without being told. The east window is, admittedly, a bit of giveaway with its too-regular tracery and shortened height but then many east windows are Victorian replacements. Otherwise, it is a surprisingly tasteful re-creation and probably not dissimilar from the original. Right: Looking towards the east end. The west door is surprisingly lintelled, although this might not be its original form, of course. The south doorway (on the right) is a no-nonsense affair with enormous jambs protruding into the church im most unorthodox fashion. The font is in the centre.

Left: Another view of the west end, showing the deeply-splayed Anglo-Saxon window at the top of the west wall. The south wall was reconstructed in 1663 and the north aisle was added in the thirteenth century. The clerestory seems not to have been “raised” in the usual way: rather windows have just been cut into the nave wall. All of this suggests that the nave always was the height it is now with the usual loftiness of an Anglo-Saxon church. Perhaps much of the north nave wall is of that period? Centre: The Transitional south door with its round head and lack of decoration. Right: The Norman font.





		The Wansford Font




		Above: The tower. Note the crude drip moulds over the windows. The louvred bell opening is in a rather distressed state Right Above: Where the tower joins the broach spire there is a nail head decorative strip. Here too you can see signs that all has not always been well with this top section of the tower, Right Below: The northern aspect.