The second of our Coffee, Clean & Chat mornings took place at Bagthorpe, St Mary on Tuesday 7th October.
The church certainly looked very different in 1853 prior to its rebuild, which took only six months and was designed by the Norfolk born architect William Donthorn, known for his country house style and who was responsible for the design of around a dozen workhouses.
Little remains from the earlier church, however the 14th century doorway and Romanesque font is still in evidence.
A big thank you to the volunteers who dusted, swept, polished, vacuumed and generally tidied up the interior of this little church which has been in the care of the Norfolk Churches Trust since 1979.
Images of St Mary’s in 1853 above and today below.
The church was certainly looking much smarter, and more welcoming by the end of the morning. See the image below looking towards the east window, believed to have been designed by Charles Gibbs. A monument on the south wall is to George William Chad, who died in 1849 and who is buried in the churchyard. The tablet commemorates the twenty five years he spent in the diplomatic service.
Below a close up of the font, square in shape with columns at each corner, however, patterned on one side, seen as you enter the church.
For more details on this church and its location, follow this link.
Our next Coffee, Clean & Chat takes place on Tuesday 4th November at St Cecilia, West Bilney, more information here.
We would love to see you there.
