Photo: Ron Maltby

St. Mary’s, Swaffham Prior

The two churches at Swaffham Prior stand together in a triangular churchyard, well elevated above the main street. The church of St. Mary is closer to the street. The dominant feature is the tall west tower of Norman date.  The first two stages were built in the 12th century against an existing nave, the ground stage being square and the upper stage octagonal. Then in the 13th century the tower was heightened with two 16-sided storeys and slightly later was completed with a tall stone spire. This was destroyed by lightning in 1802 and its fall caused the abandonment of worship in the nave. Services were held in the chancel until St. Cyriacs was rebuilt in 1806-9. After this date St. Mary’s was allowed to fall into ruin. The fall of the spire caused the destruction of the tower’s internal floors, including the ribbed vault over the ground floor, and the tower is now open to the roof. The west porch which was added in the mid 15th century has also lost its ribbed vault. The top of the tower remained in ruins until a modern parapet and a lead spike were added in 1965.

From the outside most of the church appears to be Victorian, the result of a drastic restoration by Sir Arthur Blomefield in 1878-1902. The chancel was heavily rebuilt, though originally of 12th century date. The north vestry and organ chamber are completely new. The aisled nave is also Victorian externally though inside there are the four-bay arcades of  Perpendicular style.  The windows contain a fine series of stained glass designed by T. F. Curtis and made by Ward and Hughes in about 1920. These include some local scenes.

On the aisle walls are a series of figure brasses: four pairs dating between 1462 and 1530; and also Robert Chambers (1638) shown standing on a tiled floor wearing a cloak and tall boots.  On the nave walls hang heraldic paintings (or funeral `hatchments’) of the Allix family who lived in Swaffham Prior House. The rood screen is Victorian but is approached by the original winding staircase and gives a convincing impression of its medieval predecessor.

 

For further architectural details see this page.

For some photos of the war memorial windows see this page.