BROADWATER HUNDRED 



The parish church of ST. MARY 

 CHURCHES is built of flint rubble with stone 

 dressings ; the chancel is roofed with 

 tiles and the nave with lead. The church consists of 

 a chancel, nave, north aisle, north vestry,- west tower 

 and south porch.* 



The nave is the oldest part of the present structure 

 and probably dates from the izth century. In the 

 13th century the chancel was either enlarged or 

 wholly rebuilt. The west tower was added about 

 1480, and the south porch probably in the 1 8 th 

 century. The north aisle and north vestry date from 

 1887, when the church was restored throughout. 



The original 1 3th-century roll-moulded east win- 

 dows of the chancel are replaced by a window of 

 , about 1500 of three cinquefoiled lights ; but the 

 interior jambs with part of the arch are still visible 

 on either side of the existing window. In the 

 north wall are two windows, probably of the 13th 

 century, with a 

 modern window be- 

 tween them. The 

 doorway in the north 

 wall is of the 12th 

 century, moved to 

 its present position 

 from the north wall 

 when the north aisle 

 was built. In the 

 south wall the 

 easternmost window 

 is a plain single light 

 of the 13th century, 

 and the westernmost 

 is of about 1 500 of 

 three cinquefoiled 

 lights in a low two- 

 centred head. Be- 

 tween them a door- 

 way and window 

 above it, both blocked 

 and only visible in- 

 ternally, are of the 

 13 th century. The 

 piscina in the south- 

 east corner is of the 

 13th century ; it is 

 double and has two 



detached shafts and a central pillar with moulded 

 bases and capitals supporting two richly moulded 

 half-arches and an intersecting arch, all semicircular. 

 It is surrounded by a square moulded setting. The 

 drains are very deep ; the eastern is eight-foiled and 

 the western a quatrefoil. All the work is original 

 and in excellent condition. 



The chancel arch is of the late 15th century, of 

 two orders, the inner order supported on half- 

 octagonal pilasters with moulded capitals extending 

 round the three complete faces only. A 15th- 

 century oak rood screen stands in the archway with 

 plain lower panels and three open bays of two cinque- 

 foded lights with tracery above on either side of 

 the four-centred entrance, which has open tracery 

 in the spandrels and no doors. The cornice has an 

 embattled cresting, and the foot of the cross remains 

 over the doorway. 



m Dimemiona : chain 

 >9 ft. ; west tower, ti ft. by 



GRAVELEY 



The nave has a window of about 1330 in the 

 south wall with two cinquefoiled lights and a quatre- 

 foil in a two-centred head, and a 15th-century two- 

 light window, with similar tracery in a four-centred 

 head. Between them is the south doorway leading 

 to the south porch. The roof of the nave is low- 

 pitched, of 15th-century date, but most of the 

 carving is modern. At the north-east, beside the 

 chancel arch, is a tall shallow niche of the 15th 

 century, with a two- centred arch in a moulded 

 rectangular frame. The north arcade with the 

 north aisle is modern, but a 14th-century window 

 has been reset in the north wall. 



The west tower, of two stages with an embattled 

 parapet, has a late 15th-century arch towards the 

 nave. The west doorway is of the same date. The 

 west window has modern stonework, and the two- 

 light windows of the bell chamber are repaired with 

 cement, 



Graveliy 



The font, of limestone, is octagonal, of the 15th 

 century. The pulpit is modern. A piece of wood 

 tracery of the 14th century is worked into the 

 reading desk. 



In the nave is a floor slab with an incised marginal 



inscription, ' Elienora conjux virgo simulata 



(Xpus meus ?) ora quod sit beatis sociata,' which 

 probably refers to a vow of celibacy in wedlock. 60 * 

 In the slab are also the indents of brass shields and 

 an inscription plate. 



The bells, of which there are six, include a third 

 of 1605 by Robert Oldfeild and a fifth of 1589 by 

 John Dyer. 



The plate belonging to the church of St. Mary, 

 Graveley, is modern, and consists of a cup and paten 

 and a small plated flagon. 



The registers are in four books : (i) baptisms from 

 1555 to 1748, burials from 1551 to 1751 and 



31 ft. by 16 ft. j riave, 30 ft. by «* Referred to by Salmon (1728) and Cussans, op, cit. 



