ST GILES, CROMWELL
Cromwell, a small village of around 200 inhabitants, lies to the west of the Trent about five miles north of Newark. It is now between the modern A1 road and the East Coast Mainline railway. Historically the old Great North Road formed the main village street, with the church on its east side, towards the centre of the village. It has existed since Anglo-Saxon times, being mentioned in Domesday Book (1086). Until 1913 the Rector was presented by the Lord of the Manor of Cromwell.
The present church building consists of an unbutressed west tower, nave and chancel, with south aisles to nave and chancel. All medieval work dates from the 13th century to the early 16th century. A vestry on the north side of the chancel was added in the 20th century. The church is modest in size, the chancel is almost a metre longer than the nave, but a metre narrower (10.9m/10.1m, and 4.7m/5.9m respectively).
The east end was re-built around 1300 when a south-aisle chantry chapel was created and a new east window installed. A little of the original medieval glass survives, but most of the fenestration is modern and the tracery restored. Two of the three timber bays of the nave roof date to the end of the Middle Ages, when a three-window clerestory was added. A blocked door, to the north of the chancel, gave access to a now lost sacristy or chapel.
The overall potential for the survival of below-ground archaeology in the churchyard, is considered to be HIGH, comprising mainly burials of all periods, paths, earlier boundaries, and perhaps structural evidence of an earlier tower. The presence of the hogback stones may be indicative of much earlier, perhaps pre-Conquest, stratigraphy. Below the present interior floors the archaeological chance is VERY HIGH. The standing fabric of the church remains largely intact and the overall potential for surviving medieval archaeology is VERY HIGH.
After centuries of piece-meal change, a major restoration in 1873 largely returned the church to its late medieval form.
You can see this church from the A1, you cannot however appreciate the age and history to it. Cromwell is one of the 4 Thankful Villages in Nottinghamshire - those rare places that suffered no fatalities during the Great War of 1914 to 1918.
Just to the east of the village is Cromwell Lock, the point where the non tidal River Trent ends and the so-called Tideway starts. From Cromwell lock commercial traffic and pleasure craft may navigate north towards Torksey Lock and Gainsborough. Ultimately the Trent ends where it meets the River Ouse and becomes the Humber. Navigators on the Trent must wait until the tide is ebbing or flooding in their favour to ensure a safe and efficient passage.
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