You approach the church up a narrow lane, and as the small graveyard opens up the little church presents itself to you, tower end first. Everything is small and to scale, and there is a crispness to the bright flint and red brick of the tower that is reminiscent of 19th century village churches on the south coast of England, or in the north of Ireland. This is because the tower was completely rebuilt in the late 1880s, along with the north aisle.
As you walk up to the church, there is an ancient tombchest in the churchyard beside the path. The panels cannot be any later than the early 16th century, which would make this one of the earliest graveyard memorials in East Anglia. However, the top does not match, and the panels almost certainly came from elsewhere, probably inside a church, and it is unlikely to have been this one. Most likely, they were reused for their current purpose in the 17th or 18th century.
Great Moulton is one of the Pilgrim Group of parishes, which are all very welcoming, and a pleasure to visit. However, one thing that everybody seems to notice about St Michael is quite how dark it is inside. We came here on a bright day in late winter, the white light slanting across the graveyard, but very little of it seems to get inside the church.
This is largely because of the lack of windows in the western part of the nave. There is just one window in the south wall, at the east end. It is a truncated three-light 14th century one, which creates a pool of light before the chancel arch, but not much else. As your eyes become accustomed to the light, you see that St Michael underwent a dramatic redecoration in the early years of the 20th century.
The walls are painted in pastel shades, and those in the chancel are stencilled with flowers, fleurs de lys and portraits of the four Evangelists. The window splays are full of intricate vinework, and scrolls containing Biblical quotations run along the walls. The scheme was topped off by a gorgeous large scale St Michael killing a dragon over the chancel arch, completed in 1909. Pevsner thought it was terrible, and you wouldn't want to find it in every church
Secondly, there are two sets of royal arms, one above the north door and one above the south. Neither has endured the passage of time without damage, but both are interesting. Those above the south door, on canvas, are to George III, and carry the names of churchwardens Edward Wiseman and George Borrett, and the date 1762. Those above the north door, painted on board, are not clear at all, but appear to be a rare set to Charles I.
The oldest thing inside the church is actually the original 14th century chancel arch, which was not rebuilt. It has little heads at 30cm intervals.
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If anybody would like to expand this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first at churchmicro@gmail.com so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list”