Unusually for these little Norman churches in the marshes, St Margaret had an extensive makeover in the late 15th century, and was then well-kept by puritans in the 17th century. The Victorians virtually ignored it. As a result it is full of white light, even on a winter's day
The one major addition of the 19th century is a little red-brick vestry with an oversized chimney to the north of the chancel. The body of the nave is off-centre against the fat round tower - Pevsner thought an arcade had been knocked through into the aisle to increase the size of the nave, which may have happened in the 17th or 18th centuries.
Inside, the atmosphere comes partly from the brick floors, and partly from the silvery ghostlike woodwork. When they built the pews towards the end of the 18th century, they merely encased the medieval benches in boxes of panelling. The result is curious, as though the dark oak grows out of the light pine.
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