St Clements- Burnham Overy -Norfolk - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

St Clement was a large, sprawling cruciform church. The transepts have now gone, except for the stub of the southern one which has been added into the south aisle of the nave. But there were once other aisles, certainly one to the south of the chancel, that have been lost. The tower has been shortened, and topped out with an elegant and beautiful bell turret. There is no other church in Norfolk quite like it.

If the outside is unusual, wait until you go inside. For what we have here is effectively two churches. During the long centuries between the Reformation and the Victorian revival, the area beneath the tower was blocked off, and the nave used as a church while the chancel became, among other things, a village school. Now, the whole thing has been reunited, but still the only connection between nave and chancel is a narrow passageway through the tower about five metres long through two simple doorways. The area beneath the tower is used as a vestry and for storage, and effectively there is no way of sitting in the nave and seeing what is going on in the chancel.

A nave altar has been installed beside the westerly of the two doorways, but the chancel is also fitted out for liturgical use. I had assumed that they usually used the chancel, but the nave had hymn boards up, extraordinary things, the numbers chalked on slate.

St Clement, then, is a quirky delight. Its atmosphere is added to by north-west Norfolk's only St Christopher wall-painting, the gothic horror of some 18th century monuments, the forbidding decalogue board still hanging at the east end of the nave, an awesome George III royal arms with supporters, and, strangest of all, the surviving south arcade still inside the south wall of the chancel. What an extraordinary place! It became a church against which all quirkiness will be measured.

details from simon knott

Date the Church was built, dedicated or cornerstone laid: 01/01/1100 Age of Church building determined by?: Historical Society If Church is open to the public, please indicate hours: From: 9:00 AM To: 5:00 PM If Church holds a weekly worship service and "all are welcome", please give the day of the week: Sunday Indicate the time that the primary worship service is held. List only one: 12:00 AM Street address of Church: St Clements Burham Overy, Norfolk United Kingdom none If denomination of Church is not part of the name, please provide it here: Not listed Primary website for Church or Historic Church Building: Not listed Secondary Website for Church or Historic Church Building: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/07/2015 Alancache visited it